Islamic scholars and rights defenders treat draft to ban religious clothes in schools as discriminatory

The proposal put forward by Vladislav Davankov, the Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker, to ban religious clothing in schools is populist and discriminatory from the viewpoint of the law and is aimed against the Russian Muslim community, Islamic scholars, lawyers and human rights defenders have stated.

The MP Davankov has offered to provide educational establishments with the right to ban the wearing of religious clothing. Adam Delimkhanov, a State Duma MP from Chechnya, has promised to "clearly" explain to him what "traditional religious values and customs are."

Bans on religious clothing lead to social tensions and pose a serious psychological threat to children, says Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*.

"While earlier children didn't notice that they were dressed differently, now they begin to notice this, and this affects their perception of each other, which is unacceptable," Ms Gannushkina* has stated, criticized similar bans on religious elements in Europe.

She believes that neither the society nor schools should deal with issues of people's appearance.

The right that allows educational establishments to prohibit the wearing of religious paraphernalia, symbols or clothing violates the right to the freedom of conscience and religion, Miki Arapiev, a lawyer from the Moscow Bar Association, believes.

"I hope that Davankov's discord-inciting bill will not come up for discussion at the State Duma," Shamsail Saraliev, a State Duma MP from Chechnya, wrote in his Telegram channel.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.