PARIS: France’s interior minister on Sunday said he opposed a proposal put before parliament to ban young girls wearing the Muslim headscarf, saying such a move risked being “stigmatising” for the minors.
The issue of tightening legal limits on the wearing of the hijab in public is being raised with increasing insistence in France, where the far-right is growing in strength but which has one of Europe’s biggest Muslim communities.
Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the parliamentary faction of the traditional right-wing Republicans (LR) party, submitted a bill to the lower house National Assembly last week to ban the wearing of the veil by minors in public.
This proposal “is very stigmatising toward our Muslim compatriots who may feel hurt,” Nunez, a former Paris police chief named as interior minister in October to succeed his hard-line LR predecessor Bruno Retailleau, told BFMTV. “I am not in favor of it in this way.”
A report by the LR in the upper house Senate has gone even further, suggesting banning Ramadan fasting for those under 16.
Nunez said that authorities needed to be “extremely careful” and focus on targeting fundamentalists with an extreme interpretation of the religion who seek to impose “religious law over the laws of the republic.”
But the issue is a subject of tension within President Emmanuel Macron’s center-right government, which is mindful that the far right has its best ever chance of winning the Elysee in the 2027 polls.
Equality Minister Aurore Berge told CNews she backed a hijab ban for minors “to protect children.”
“I have no doubt that there is now a majority in the National Assembly and the Senate to vote for it,” she said.
Macron’s center-right Renaissance party, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, in May also proposed banning “minors under 15 from wearing the veil in public spaces.”
Under current legislation in France, a secular state according to its constitution, civil servants, teachers and pupils cannot wear any obvious religious symbols such as a Christian cross, Jewish kippa, Sikh turban or Muslim hijab in government buildings, including public schools.
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French interior minister opposes ‘stigmatising’ hijab ban for minors
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French interior minister opposes ‘stigmatising’ hijab ban for minors
- issue of tightening legal limits on the wearing of the hijab in public is being raised with increasing insistence in France
- Far-right is growing in strength in France but the country has one of Europe’s biggest Muslim communities
Chaos erupts at Indian airports as country’s largest airline cancels flights
NEW DELHI: Chaos gripped major Indian airports Friday as passengers of the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo, scrambled to cope up with widespread flight disruptions and cancelations triggered by newly enforced rules limiting working hours for crew and pilots.
Scenes of frustration played out as passengers slept on airport floors, queued for hours at customer service counters and waited without clear communication from the airline.
Friday was the fourth straight day of disruptions as the low cost carrier struggles with new regulations that mandate longer rest periods and limit night flying hours to address concerns about fatigue and safety.
The first phase of the rules came into effect in July while the second phase kicked in November. IndiGo struggled to adapt its rosters in time, resulting in widespread cancelations and disruptions.
On Thursday, more than 300 IndiGo flights were grounded while several hundreds delayed. A passenger advisory from the Delhi airport Friday stated that all domestic IndiGo flights will remain canceled until midnight. Other major airlines, including Air India, have not faced similar issues so far.
IndiGo operates around 2,300 flights daily and controls nearly 65 percent of India’s domestic aviation market.
Senior citizen Sajal Bose was scheduled to travel with his wife Senjuti Bose early Friday from Kolkata to New Delhi to attend a friend’s silver jubilee celebration. His flight was canceled an hour before the scheduled take off.
Bose told The Associated Press he was now taking a nine-hour train ride to the city Bagdogra, where he plans to get a flight to New Delhi on another airline. “Its very irresponsible and complete negligence. Very difficult for older people like us,” he said.
In an internal email to employees this week, seen by The Associated Press, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologized, and cited technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion and the implementation of the new rules as the reasons for flight disruptions.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement that the disruptions arose primarily through misjudgment and planning gaps as the airline implemented phase two of the new rules, and that the airline acknowledged that the effect on crew strength exceeded their expectations.
IndiGo has sought temporary exemptions in implementing the new rules and told the government that corrective measures were underway. It has indicated the operations will be fully restored by Feb. 10.
More cancelations are expected in the next couple of weeks, and the airline said it would reduce its flight operations from Dec. 8 to minimize disruptions.
Scenes of frustration played out as passengers slept on airport floors, queued for hours at customer service counters and waited without clear communication from the airline.
Friday was the fourth straight day of disruptions as the low cost carrier struggles with new regulations that mandate longer rest periods and limit night flying hours to address concerns about fatigue and safety.
The first phase of the rules came into effect in July while the second phase kicked in November. IndiGo struggled to adapt its rosters in time, resulting in widespread cancelations and disruptions.
On Thursday, more than 300 IndiGo flights were grounded while several hundreds delayed. A passenger advisory from the Delhi airport Friday stated that all domestic IndiGo flights will remain canceled until midnight. Other major airlines, including Air India, have not faced similar issues so far.
IndiGo operates around 2,300 flights daily and controls nearly 65 percent of India’s domestic aviation market.
Senior citizen Sajal Bose was scheduled to travel with his wife Senjuti Bose early Friday from Kolkata to New Delhi to attend a friend’s silver jubilee celebration. His flight was canceled an hour before the scheduled take off.
Bose told The Associated Press he was now taking a nine-hour train ride to the city Bagdogra, where he plans to get a flight to New Delhi on another airline. “Its very irresponsible and complete negligence. Very difficult for older people like us,” he said.
In an internal email to employees this week, seen by The Associated Press, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologized, and cited technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion and the implementation of the new rules as the reasons for flight disruptions.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement that the disruptions arose primarily through misjudgment and planning gaps as the airline implemented phase two of the new rules, and that the airline acknowledged that the effect on crew strength exceeded their expectations.
IndiGo has sought temporary exemptions in implementing the new rules and told the government that corrective measures were underway. It has indicated the operations will be fully restored by Feb. 10.
More cancelations are expected in the next couple of weeks, and the airline said it would reduce its flight operations from Dec. 8 to minimize disruptions.
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