Tag: Secularism

PARIS : The Islamic headscarf has emerged as a major polarizing issue during the presidential election for allegedly being antithetical to France’s fundamental value of secularism. The veil, or headscarf, has always been a highly charged issue for the French political class and a compulsive phobia for the right. It has been called by some a symbol of submission, an Islamist uniform -- incompatible with French values and a way to impose Sharia on France. French Muslims, estimated at 6 million, are a minority but every election infuses a new debate around...