Hawzah News Agency-Protesting French ban on burkini, some thirty beach-goers in Brittany, northern France, took to the sea fully clothed, after a video emerged showing a veil-wearing Muslim woman being asked to undress or leave the beach in Nice.
“These Muslim women are French women, and the anti-burkini rules were persecuting them. It’s intolerable”, one member of the group told.
The protest was organized by local group “Le Planning familial du Finistere”, who wished to stand up against burkini bans recently imposed in around 30 towns in France.
A recent controversy on burkini has erupted in the wake of the French authorities’ decision to ban the swimsuit in Cannes, Corsica, Le Touquet, and followed by more other French mayors.
The decision was criticized by many commentators who see burkini as something that grants so many women access to sports and experiences they would have otherwise avoided because of health, body or religious concerns.
Anger also increased after a series of photos emerged showing four police officers armed with handguns, batons and pepper spray standing around the woman who was lying on the beach wearing a blue headscarf and matching top.
In protests, photos taken at the beach showed both men and women wearing clothes and even head coverings whilst swimming in the sea.
“We wanted to show our solidarity with these women,” Monique Prevost, who organized the protest on the beach, told.
“We were discussing how the burkini is all anyone is talking about these days and how the ban isn’t justified. We discussed how we could denounce the grotesque side of the situation that has developed,” she added.
“We decided to gather on the beach as a way of showing our solidarity with these women.’
The reaction to the beach protest has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Photos of us on the beach have been shared and liked thousands of times. As of yet we have only received one hostile comment in response,” Prevost said.
The ruling was supposed to set a more commendable precedent but local authorities in Nice refused to accept it.