The “Creil scarves” affair dates back to 1989, when a college in Creil, in Oise, prohibited three young Muslim girls from wearing headscarves in class. This decision sparked a vast debate in France on secularism, the wearing of religious symbols at school, and the place of Islam in French society. The case marked the start of a series of controversies over veiling in schools, culminating in the 2004 law banning conspicuous religious symbols in public schools.
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The unfolding of the facts
Three schoolgirls, Leïla, Fatima and Samira, find themselves at the heart of the Creil scarf affair. At the Gabriel-Havez college in Creil, in Oise, they refuse to remove their veil. The principal of the college, Ernest Chénière, then decided to exclude teenage girls until October 9, 1989. In a letter addressed to parents, he justified this decision by explaining that the veil represented a religious sign incompatible with the proper functioning of the school. a secular educational establishment. The three students stated: “We are fools of Allah, we will never take off our headscarf, we will keep it until we die. »
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An agreement was finally reached between the parents and the establishment. Young girls were allowed to wear their veils outside of class, but not in class. The agreement also specified that they must cease “all religious proselytism within the college” and moderate their behavior towards Muslim students who are less strict in the application of Koranic law.
What are the repercussions?
The affair took on national proportions and made the front pages of all the newspapers. The debates on the “scarf of discord” were very violent at the time. The vice-president of SOS Racisme in 1989 Malek Bouthi believes “scandalous that in the name of secularism we can intervene in people’s private lives and abuse personal convictions”. The Minister of National Education Lionel Jospin announced that it was necessary to respect “the secularism of the school which must be a school of tolerance, where one does not display, in a spectacular or ostentatious manner, the signs of one’s religious affiliation”. Prime Minister Michel Rocard defended secularism and recalled the principle of refusing exclusions.
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In 1994, the Bayrou circular differentiated “discreet” symbols that could be worn in class from “ostentatious” symbols prohibited in public establishments. In 2004, a bill carried by the President of the Republic Jacques Chirac on secularism in schools provided that it was henceforth prohibited to wear conspicuous religious symbols in educational establishments.
Since the fall of 1989, many similar cases have been repeated in France. Most recently, on Monday October 7, 2024, a student from the Sévigné high school in Tourcoing slapped and shoved a teacher who asked her to “remove her veil”. In response, the teacher also slapped the student. A violent altercation took place before the student who “beat up” the teacher fled.
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