About 4,000 people gathered in Brussels on Sunday to protest against a ruling by Belgium\u2019s Constitutional Court that a ban on headscarves in higher education is permissible.<\/p>\n
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About 4,000 people gathered in Brussels on Sunday to protest against a ruling by Belgium\u2019s Constitutional Court that a ban on headscarves in higher education is permissible.<\/p>\n
Responding to the call of non-governmental agencies, demonstrators gathered in Mont des Arts square in the center of the capital.<\/p>\n
The protesters carried signs bearing slogans such as \u201cTake your hands off my headscarf,\u201d \u201cMy right\u201d and \u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group read a statement drawing attention to the religiously motivated discrimination faced by Muslim women in Belgium and requesting that Muslim women\u2019s rights be taken into consideration in the making of Belgian laws.<\/p>\n
A group of demonstrators wore graduation caps.<\/p>\n
The Constitutional Court ruled in early June that a ban on headscarves expressing religious or political opinions would not be contrary to the constitution or the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).<\/p>\n
The case was referred to the Constitutional Court by a Brussels court after Muslim students sued the Francisco Ferrer Brussels University College about a ban on all religious symbols.<\/p>\n
The ruling sparked a backlash on social media among young people and students, with rights organizations also decrying the move as a violation of a basic human right.<\/p>\n
Since the decision, 12 Belgian universities and colleges have assured students they will not impose such a ban, stressing that religious freedom is protected in their classrooms, according to The Brussels Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
About 4,000 people gathered in Brussels on Sunday to protest against a ruling by Belgium\u2019s Constitutional Court that a ban on headscarves in higher education is permissible. About 4,000 people gathered in Brussels on Sunday to protest against a ruling by Belgium\u2019s Constitutional Court that a ban on headscarves in higher education is permissible. Responding …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n