JULIEN ODOUL

On the 11th October, far-right politician Julien Odoul demanded a Muslim mother visting the regional French assembly of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté remove her headscarf or leave the building, citing a breach of 'laïcité', or secularism. She was accompanying her son on a school trip, and had to comfort him as he cried. The education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer stated on national TV later, that "the law does not prohibit veiled women from accompanying children, but we do not wish to encourage the phenomenon". In the past few years, the Muslim headscarf has been central to anti-Muslim hatred. Not only does secularism have a higher impact on the Muslim community, but it has also been manipulated by the far-right to promote anti-Muslim racism.