The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has acknowledged a ban on wearing hijabs at schools legitimate. The judicial collegium has rejected the complaint of three residents of the Stavropol Region, who made an attempt to revoke the decision of the regional government on the inadmissibility of wearing a Muslim headscarf at school.
Such bans are in force in other parts of the country, including Bashkortostan, Adygeia, and Dagestan. However, there are exceptions too. For example, wearing hijabs is not banned. Beginning from the new school year, the schoolchildren in the Russian regions will have to wear school uniforms. Each region will decide how it will look like.
Producers have already started fighting for contracts. The price of one school uniform set will range from 1,500 to 2,500 roubles. It is a profitable business. However, this issue has already given rise to numerous debates. The Russian Supreme Court is well aware of that. A number of residents in the Stavropol Region voiced their discontent over the ban of the regional authorities on wearing hijabs at school. As a result, a lawsuit was brought to the court with a demand to revoke the decision to introduce school uniforms in the Stavropol Region. The collegium for administrative affairs of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected this lawsuit. However, lawyer Murad Musayev who represents the interests of the local residents said that they are going to complain against this decision.
“Of course, this decision is not based on law. Such decisions are discrimination and anti- constitutional acts against which we will complain to the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation”.
Not only the Head of the Russian Council of Muftis but also representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church have already come out in favour of hijabs. Professor of the Moscow Spiritual Academy, Protodeacon Andrei Kurayev, has characterized the ban of the Russian Ministry of Education as a manifestation of schizophrenia. The Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, was strongly negative about the decisions of the Russian officials as well. However, the Russian Ministry of Education has repeatedly stressed that this had nothing to do with the infringement of the Muslims’ rights, but that any demonstration of the religious affiliation must be banned at schools. Director of the International Institute of the Newest States Alexei Martynov says:
“This promotes neither peace nor accord and does damage to children. The ultimatum-type wish of the Muslim parents to force the girls to wear hijabs at school seems to be very strange when it comes to a multinational and multicultural state”.
Speaking about the introduction of school uniforms late last year, President Putin said: “We should proceed from the fact that Russia is a secular state”. The Russian head of state said that this country should adopt an international experience, and France is a good example. The law banning wearing religious clothes in state schools was introduced there in 2004. And strange as it might seem, the number of conflicts has gone down considerably because both the demands and the government’s position on that score are clear-cut. No matter whether people like it or not.