Court of Appeal reverses ruling over Muslim dress

[nichomach]

At the risk of awakening a sleeping giant ...

BBC Linkage

A girl was unlawfully excluded from school for wearing a traditional Muslim gown, Appeal Court judges have ruled.

Lord Justice Brooke said Denbigh High School in Luton, Beds, denied Shabina Begum, 16 - now at another school - the right to manifest her religion.

He called for more guidance for schools on complying with the Human Rights Act. ..In their ruling the Appeal Court judges said the school had a right to set a school uniform policy but nobody had considered Miss Begum had a right recognised by English law.

The onus lay on the school to justify any interference with that right, the judges ruled.

Lord Justice Brooke said: "Instead, it started from the premise that its uniform policy was there to be obeyed: if the claimant did not like it, she could go to a different school."

Although Miss Begum had won her case, she no longer sought an order from the court that the school took her back and no longer sought any damages, he added...The ruling, which has major implications for multi-faith schools across the country, has been welcomed by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) as a "common-sense approach".

MCB Secretary-General Iqbal Sacranie said: "This is a very important ruling on the issue of personal freedoms. The British Muslim community is a diverse community in terms of the interpretation and understanding of their faith and its practice.

"Within this broad spectrum those that believe and choose to wear the jilbab and consider it to be part of their faith requirement for modest attire should be respected."

[Kumagoro]

If someone can wear something different to the uniform then everyone should be able to
wear what they like for whatever reason. In my opinion all religion is bollocks and therefore to me if someone thinks anarchy is the way, why shouldnt they wear what they want. to someone religious they will think differently but to me religion isnt real and therefore doesnt deserve any special treatment.

[Stewart]

I'm gutted, as in that thread I was giving it 'the law is the law and must be respected', so now, I've no counter argument if the appeal has been won.

[nichomach]

No, no, no - you've just switched to MY side "the law is the law, but it may be either misapplied or a bad law"...

[Swafe]

If someone can wear something different to the uniform then everyone should be able to
wear what they like for whatever reason.

Exactly, if you wore trainers to school, you got sent home

If you wear a head scarf - you should get sent home


They bang on about all these equal rights, they make it that equal that infact its unfair on others now in the reverse direction. Its her choice, if she doesnt like it, she can go to a different school (Read muslim) where they have different rules and regulations.

Surely shes not going to go to hell (Or whatever) for not wearing something on her head ? And if she is, as I said go to a muslim school !

[Swafe]

It is amazing that in the so-called free world I have to fight to wear this attire

Look at this I cmon guys its a free world, but there are still rules, I doubt I could wear whatever I like at school, while everyone else is forced to wear uniform, its just not fair.

Its like saying its your belief everyone you see should be killed, its your religious cult.....thats what you belive in and thats what youve got to do, I doubt that would stand up in court, when other murders get life.

[Twigman]

My religion has now become "Casual-clothes"-ism. It is our one main commandment to wear what we like when we like.

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IMHO your at school to learn, what u wear is irrelivant as long as its not offensive...

[autopilot]

Ignorance is the new black it seems.

[G4Z]

tbh, I really think that she has used her religion to obtain special treatment, the musilm council in her area agreed on the musilm dress in school so she wasnt breaking any Islamic rules about modesty.

I think the decision is wrong, simply because it means that she now gets prefferencial treatment over other kids (I was never allowed to wear trainers or jeans) and this is unfair to them as well as damaging to attitutes others have toward muslims.

[nichomach]

tbh, I really think that she has used her religion to obtain special treatment, the musilm council in her area agreed on the musilm dress in school so she wasnt breaking any Islamic rules about modesty.

Actually, she (and a LOT of other Muslim women) would feel that she was, and the Muslim Council of Britain (a pretty moderate bunch all told) recognise that some women believe that the shalwar kameez is sufficient, and others do not.

I think the decision is wrong, simply because it means that she now gets prefferencial treatment over other kids (I was never allowed to wear trainers or jeans) and this is unfair to them as well as damaging to attitutes others have toward muslims.

No, she doesn't. They get to wear clothes that satisfy the requirements of their faiths (or lack thereof) and so does she. Being equal is not the same as being identical.

[Stewart]

Hehe. I smell another monster in the making...

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Hehe. I smell another monster in the making...

Theres lots of monsters in the making, several of them seem to revolve around the fact your considered racist if you complain about 2nd rate treatment in your country of birth...

[poindextermatic]

At the risk of starting to sound raceist (which I'm deffo not) I think it is not fair on the other children that she gets to wear a what she wants!
When are people coming into our country going to learn that they have to go by our ways and rules?
Imagine if you went to their country and did not dress accordingly in a public place - they would not have it and neither should we!
When is this nanny government, full of lefties banging on about a peoples rights ever going to listen to what the people of the country actually want?
A further example of this in the news is that people who have got HASBO's should not have their names made public! Will we ever get tough on these people? What about the rights of the many?

[ajbrun]

I posted something similar to what I'm about to post now in the thread about honour killings. I said that if your come to our country, then you MUST respect our laws, but you don't HAVE to respect our beliefs/socials norms and customs. The school rules are in effect the law for the students and staff during school times. Therefore, I think that the school uniform rule should be stuck to no matter what.

[Rave]

When is this nanny government, full of lefties

Hello? New Labour full of lefties? GET A CLUE. In any case, this decision was made by the Court of Appeal, so your rant is not only incorrect, it's irrelevant.

Anyway, I think this decision is correct. I do not however think that this girl's profound belief that the school uniform is not modest enough should have any more weight than, say, the profound belief of another pupil that school uniforms look stupid. I personally think that this ruling is carte blanche for kids to wear whatever they like to school, and rightly so. If I have kids, I'll certainly support their right under this ruling to wear whatever they like to school. Within that freedom of choice you can still have reasonable regulations like that stomachs, legs down the the knees, and arms to the elbow must be covered, no transparent material etc. and that's entirely non-discriminatory.

Rich :¬)