Should headscarves be allowed in the classroom? In 2003 the German Federal Court ruled it unconstitutional to prohibit Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves at school. Eight German states enacted their own laws to ensure the headscarf stays out of the classroom.
Ten years ago this week, Ferestha Ludin celebrated the verdict she had fought so hard to win: the German Federal Court ruled that the 31-year old Muslim teacher could not be barred from wearing her headscarf in the classroom. The victory was short-lived, however, when eight German states enacted their own religious "neutrality" laws.
A decade later the verdict's results continue to spur controversy and leave some asking what is more oppressive: wearing a headscarf or excluding those who do?
For Fereshta Ludin, that day ten years ago was hardly a victory. She generally doesn't make much of the verdict's anniversary, but this year gives her pause.