http://tinyurl.com/cxxnz5t

Headscarf ruling draws public anger in France

French Interior Minister came out against the ruling last week

Paris: Backlash is growing in France against a court ruling in favour of a Muslim employee of a private nursery school who was fired after she refused to take her headscarf off.

A new poll has found that four-fifths of people in France would back a proposal to ban Muslim headscarves and other visible signs of religion in private companies.

France’s Interior Minister, who is in charge of religions as well as being the top security official, came out against the ruling last week.

In the poll released Monday, 85 per cent of respondents opposed the decision, and more than 80 per cent said they back a ban in private workplaces and schools.

France already bans headscarves and other “ostentatious” signs of religion in public buildings and has outlawed face-covering veils in all.