The Revolutionary Socialist Movement in Egypt criticized a judicial ruling that approved the ban on wearing the veil by female members of the faculty at Cairo University, and considered it a further blatant assault on personal freedoms.
This came in a statement published by the movement on its pages on social media, after the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Monday to reject the appeal submitted by eighty members of the faculty at Cairo University, to the ruling issued by the Administrative Judicial Court previously, and endorsed the decision of the university president to prevent faculty members from wearing The niqab.
The movement said, "While promoting the judgment that it came to preserve the quality of university education, and in the interest of students, it was first to pay attention to the budget for higher education and develop the skills of teaching staff in terms of familiarity with the latest developments in their fields, in addition to developing the material capabilities of universities from offices, laboratories and halls equipped With advanced tools; these are the factors that really affect the educational process and the ability of a faculty member to communicate information, not its appearance or clothing. "
The movement, which is subject to harassment and restrictions, like all voices attributed to the opposition in Egypt, added that the judicial ruling means recognition of the authority of the state over the body and another blatant assault on personal freedoms, which we, the revolutionary socialists, reject in all its forms.
The statement of the revolutionary socialists extended to criticizing the general context in Egypt today, saying that "what is happening now cannot be separated from the repressive class behavior of the state, even if it seems like a defense of the values of enlightenment in society, and the preservation of students' interests, even if many try to justify it." However, it is to protect the "Egyptian society values" from the Wahhabi tide.
"We must not forget that the current Egyptian state, which is fighting a fierce war and launching campaigns of arrest, political harassment and abuse against the Islamists, and against all opponents of every shape and color, is the same that destroyed all progressive student organizations of various forms in the aftermath of the coup, and it controls University life now with an iron fist that tightens everything, from academic subjects allowed to be studied at the university, to student activity, through the appointment of almost all university positions.
The revolutionary socialists concluded by emphasizing their belief that the system neither cares about the values of enlightenment nor the interests of students, but rather “only cares about its security, and takes all repressive measures to preserve this security. In return, we must do everything we can to preserve our freedom. The wearing of the niqab - despite our complete disagreement with the idea of the niqab itself - is a defense of our freedom to believe and act. "
Reasons for judgment
The ruling issued by the Supreme Administrative Court yesterday raised a great controversy between Marhab and critic, as well as others who chose to question the position of the Nour Party, which represents the Salafists who used to call for the veil and consider it an imposition, while their voices were absent in such an event.
The ruling was preceded by a report by the State Commissioners Authority, which recommended that the veil be banned, as it "affects the educational process and the speed of reception between the student and the teaching member."
In January 2016, the Administrative Court decided to uphold the decision of the then-president of Cairo University, Jaber Nassar, to ban wearing the veil on female faculty members.
In April 2015, Nassar decided to prohibit women from wearing faculty members from wearing veils while giving lectures to public university students, which then sparked a state of controversy on campus, the media, and the religious community.
Who are the revolutionary socialists?
According to their page on the social networking site Facebook, the revolutionary socialist movement appeared in Egypt at the end of the eighties, carrying a criticism of the Soviet model, refusing dependency to it, then extending their criticism to the leftist organizations affected by the Soviet model, especially in relation to the lack of democratic mechanisms.
The revolutionary socialists believe that their first battle is to restore respect for revolutionary ideas, rid them of inertia, and restore the method of revolutionary thinking in its relation to reality rather than echoing scholastic categories, by addressing Egyptian reality issues with tools of scientific analysis and breaking the ready molds inherited by the Egyptian left movement.