BRITAIN: A 15-year-old Muslim girl won the right yesterday to wear full Islamic dress at her British school in the latest European case pitting the religious rights of minority communities against Western ways of life.
Widening a gulf between Britain and continental Europe on the issue, the Court of Appeal upheld Shabina Begum's case against her school's refusal to let her wear a jilbab, which covers the whole body except for hands and face.
Speaking outside court, Ms Begum, of Bangladeshi origin, said she was a victim of what she called a general vilification of Islam since the 9/11 attacks on the US. "As a young woman growing up in post-9/11 Britain, I have witnessed a great deal of bigotry from the media, politicians and legal officials," she said.
"This bigotry resulted from my choice to wear a piece of cloth ... It is amazing that in the so-called free world I have to fight to wear this Islamic dress."
The ruling - which delighted groups representing Britain's 1.6 million Muslims - contrasted with France's controversial policy on the same issue.
Last year, Paris banned all conspicuous religious clothing or symbols in state schools, including Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.
"There, it was a political decision that was taken to persecute their Muslim minority, whereas in this country the open attitude taken with Islamic practice will reap more benefits," the Muslim Association of Britain said.
"Today's judgment is a welcome slap in the face for the French headscarf ban," it said .
Elsewhere in Europe, some German states have banned Muslim teachers in state schools from wearing headscarves.
Belgium plans to ban overt religious symbols for civil servants dealing with the public.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled last year that Turkey, the only majority Muslim country with a secular constitution, could legally ban Islamic headscarves at its universities to defend public order. The British appeal court's three-judge panel found that the High Court, in rejecting Ms Begum's case last year, had denied her rights under European human rights legislation.
"The school failed to appreciate that by its action it was infringing on the claimant's Article 9 right to manifest her religion," said Judge Scott Baker.
