Commenting on the proposed legislation by the French government on the banning of Islamic headscarves and other conspicuous religious symbols in state schools, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said "I believe that the proposal to ban the hijab and other conspicuous religious symbols in French state schools is one of the most reactionary proposals to be considered by any Parliament in Europe since the Second World War. "

"Children will face state discrimination against their freedom to express their cultural or religious identity. This legislation would be a blow to good community relations throughout Europe and as Mayor of one of Europe’s most diverse cities, I appeal to the Parliament and President of France to reconsider.'

Hundreds of Muslim men and women from the UK are set to discuss the French proposal to ban the Islamic headscarf [Hijab] at a national seminar in London this Saturday, 7th February 2004. The seminar entitled “The Hijab ban and the integration struggle in Europe” is organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, an Islamic political party.

The seminar will examine the French move to outlaw the Islamic dress for women in the context of the radical shift in the thinking of Western policy makers towards Muslim ‘minorities’ in Europe. Organisers hope that the seminar will encourage the audience to correctly respond to the French moves by challenging secularism, maintaining their Islamic identity and presenting the Islamic ideology to the Western world.

Dr Imran Waheed, a UK based doctor and Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, “The proposed banning of the headscarf goes beyond the banning of a piece of cloth and symbolises the struggle to secularise the Muslim community in Europe.”

The organisers of the seminar delivered a letter to the French President, Jacques Chirac, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday 8th January 2004.

The seminar will take place at 6 p.m. at Logan Hall, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H (nearest tube: Russell Square).

ABOUT THE HIZB UT-TAHRIR

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an independent political party whose ideology is Islam. The party works throughout the Islamic world to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate]. The party adheres to the Islamic Shari’ah in all aspects of its work. It considers violence or armed struggle against the regime, as a method to re-establish the Islamic State, to be forbidden by the Islamic Shari’ah.

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