Britons have taken part in a
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Pro-Hijab also plans to lobby
the European Parliament |
worldwide protest as a
French ban on schoolgirls wearing the hijab came
into force.
The London picket, outside the French Embassy, was attended by more
than 400 people, according to organisers the Assembly for the Protection
of Hijab (Pro-Hijab).
It was one of more than 20 that took place across
the world to mark the ban coming into force on Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the organisers said the ban was oppressive.
'Counter-productive'
One of the protest organisers Salma Yaqoob said: "The ban is unjust and
very counter-productive.
"People are feeling Islam and Muslims are being demonised and we're
trying to take away that image and explain that it [removing the ban] is
not going to threaten or undermine the education system in any way."
Speaking to BBC News Online, Pro-Hijab coordinator Rajnaara Akhtar said:
"The protest was a huge success and we had a lot more people than we
expected.
"We sent a letter in to the embassy, but didn't really get a response
from that."
State and religion
The law banning the wearing of religious symbols from French state
schools is designed to maintain the country's tradition of strictly
separating state and religion, according to the country's education
minister Francois Fillon.
'Conspicuous' religious clothing, Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans and
large Christian crosses are also banned.
Pro-Hijab plans to lobby the European Parliament on 22 September in a
further bid to get the ban overturned.