LE BOURGET (France), March 27: France’s largest Muslim organization has urged the state to rethink its ban on headscarves in schools and to recognize Islamic holy days, reopening a debate most French thought was closed. The Union of French Islamic Organizations, broadest of several groups representing Europe’s largest Muslim minority, charged at the weekend that Paris limited religious freedom by expelling veiled schoolgirls and ignoring three Muslim feast days.

The Education Ministry declared a ban on religious symbols in state schools a success two weeks ago, but groups canvassing support for private Muslim schools at the UOIF annual convention argued the issue had not gone away. UOIF Secretary-General Fouad Alaoui said the calm atmosphere now, following the polarized national debate that led to the headscarf ban in March 2004, allowed a new look at what he said was the compromised state of religious freedom in France.—Reuters