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Two Bulgarian Muslim girls have been forbidden to wear headscarves in school, after a parliamentary anti-discrimination commission ruled Friday the school had the right to impose the ban, national television reported.
The little-known Organisation for Islamic Development and Culture, in Smolian in southern Bulgaria, set a precedent in June when it lodged a complaint on behalf of the two girls, after the director of their school put a ban on all religious signs.
The two 17-year-old girls, Fatme and Mikhaela, recently told bTV television that they also attended an Islamic religious school, which had told them to cover their heads.
Such schools, which have been spreading lately in regions with large Muslim minorities, are often sponsored by Saudi foundations.
Bulgaria's Muslim minority of ethnic Turks makes up 10 percent of the country's population of 7.6 million. It is represented in parliament by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, which holds 34 seats and has three ministers in the three-party coalition government.
The anti-discrimination commission, which on Friday ruled in accordance with the constitution that "the ban on headscarves in school does not amount to discrimination," is headed in part by the MRF.
Mufti Alish Haji, the religious leader of Bulgarian Muslims, protested, however, and threatened to take the case to international human rights organisations.
On Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament formally denounced "provocation" against religious tolerance after vandals tried to burn down a mosque in the centre of the country.
In a parliamentary declaration that also referred to headscarves, deputies said they were "determined not to allow Bulgaria to be led astray from the road of accession to the European Union, which is a community of peoples with different religions and cultures."
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AFP 281944 GMT 07 06
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