A video showing a veiled student praying during the break in one of the classrooms at the University of Reims has sparked controversy in France, especially since the video may witness a wide spread and "at risk of political exploitation" with the approach of the presidential elections scheduled for next April, according to the newspaper "La Croix". (La Croix) French.
The short 30-second video, which was published by the (right-wing) University Student Union on its Twitter account, shows a student praying on a carpet behind tables in a far corner of the classroom, while the videographer asks her to stop praying, claiming that " The university is a secular space.” A veiled female colleague who was next to her answers him that she cannot stop in the middle of prayer, and quietly asks him to stop filming.
Commenting on this video, which was filmed in an almost empty hall on February 21, the National Secretary of the Student Union, Jack Smith, believes that “the mere act of praying in a public place constitutes a promotion of religion, in this case Islam, which is unacceptable,” stressing However, this act is first and foremost "against the law".
The newspaper points out that, unlike what happens in primary and secondary schools, where almost all students are minors, which requires the protection of their freedom of conscience, the wearing of religious symbols, especially the veil, is not prohibited - according to French laws - in higher education institutions attended by adults. While the public display of belief in it remains prohibited.
🔴 Une prière dans une salle de cours d'université!
L'UNI dénonce depuis des années ce phénomène caché et nié par certains présidents et personnels d'universités.
Une reaction @universitereims @VidalFrederique ?
pic.twitter.com/yHhDmooupj
— UNI (@droiteuniv) February 22, 2022
The University of Reims, where the incident occurred, referred to this by asserting that "any practice of worship is prohibited in the university according to the Education Law", and pledged to conduct an internal investigation, "after which disciplinary or other legal measures will be decided."
Jack Smith believes that this incident is evidence of the "Islamization" of higher education in France, and before that there were other precedents - according to him - such as the recent consideration by the association responsible for the self-service of the Grenoble Institute for Political Studies in the issue of providing halal meat exclusively to students.
Like others affiliated with the right and the extreme right, he believes that the presidents of French universities and the government are showing "laxity" in the face of what they call the "Islamic left" and the supposed tendency to combine university research with the work of activists.
Under the pressure of these - adds Lacroix - the French Minister of Higher Education, Frederic Vidal, commissioned the National Council for Scientific Research in February 2021 with the task of writing a report to better understand this phenomenon, an approach that others strongly objected to, and the report has not yet been delivered.
During the consideration of the separatist law, the Senate voted to amend and then delete from the final text to prohibit the practice of worship within the walls of the university, including corridors and other health facilities.
The author of the proposal, Senator Stephane Bidenauer, spoke of “secularism being subjected to forty attacks annually in universities,” a figure when compared to the number of French students of 1.6 million, which shows that “France is far from the deluge” that some are talking about, according to the expression of a university official.