French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said a teenage girl will be sued by the state for falsely accusing her school principal of mistreatment during a heated exchange after the student was asked to remove her hijab on the premises.
“The state… will always stand with these officials, those who are on the frontline faced with these breaches of secularism, these attempts of Islamist entryism in our education establishments,” Attal said on the TF1 television channel.
The school principal in Paris insisted that the student remove her Muslim veil on the premises, by French law. However, he later resigned from his post after receiving death threats on social media.
Secularism and religion have been major issues in France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim community.
The threat to French schools has been taken seriously by the authorities since the murder of two teachers -- Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard -- in the past few years.
“I have finally decided to quit my functions... out of concern for my safety and that of the establishment,” the school principal, whose identity has not been revealed by the authorities, wrote in an email last week to his colleagues.
The incident took place on February 28 when he asked three female students to follow the rules and remove their hijabs. While two female students followed his order, the third student did not do so, and this was followed by an altercation between the two.
In the next few days, the school head was subjected to death threats on social media. Officials said that two people have been detained in connection with the death threats so far. While their identities have not been revealed yet, the education ministry noted that they are not associated with the school.
After investigation, the officials did not find any evidence that the headteacher had struck the female student.
Now, France's Prime Minister has stepped in and said that the student will be taken to court for making false allegations.
Back in 2004, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a ban on school children from wearing “signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation” like kippahs, headscarves or turbans based on the country’s secular laws, which are meant for neutrality across state institutions.
“The state… will always stand with these officials, those who are on the frontline faced with these breaches of secularism, these attempts of Islamist entryism in our education establishments,” Attal said on the TF1 television channel.
The school principal in Paris insisted that the student remove her Muslim veil on the premises, by French law. However, he later resigned from his post after receiving death threats on social media.
Secularism and religion have been major issues in France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim community.
The threat to French schools has been taken seriously by the authorities since the murder of two teachers -- Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard -- in the past few years.
“I have finally decided to quit my functions... out of concern for my safety and that of the establishment,” the school principal, whose identity has not been revealed by the authorities, wrote in an email last week to his colleagues.
The incident took place on February 28 when he asked three female students to follow the rules and remove their hijabs. While two female students followed his order, the third student did not do so, and this was followed by an altercation between the two.
In the next few days, the school head was subjected to death threats on social media. Officials said that two people have been detained in connection with the death threats so far. While their identities have not been revealed yet, the education ministry noted that they are not associated with the school.
After investigation, the officials did not find any evidence that the headteacher had struck the female student.
Now, France's Prime Minister has stepped in and said that the student will be taken to court for making false allegations.
Back in 2004, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a ban on school children from wearing “signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation” like kippahs, headscarves or turbans based on the country’s secular laws, which are meant for neutrality across state institutions.
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