'When will there be a Sharia Day? Stoning? Slavery?': Muslim students at elite French university under fire for Hijab Day event

Muslim students held Hijab Day event at elite Paris University
Students at Sciences Po were invited to wear Muslim veil for a day
Initiative criticised on social media and by Sciences Po's student union

Published: 09:54 EST, 20 April 2016 | Updated: 12:21 EST, 20 April 2016

Students at an elite Paris university sparked fierce debate Wednesday by inviting classmates to wear the Muslim head scarf for a day.

The event at Paris's Sciences Po university was held to raise awareness of treatment of women who wear the hijab, but the initiative was fiercely criticised on social media and by student union representatives.

The event was held in the wake of Prime Minister Manuel Valls' controversial statement that he wished to ban all forms of religious headscarves at French universities.

The invitation from Hijab Day's Facebook page to the event which intented to highlight the discrimination women who wear the Muslim headscarf face on a daily basis - but which came under fire online

The Hijab Day Facebook page stated that the students who took part in wearing the veil for a day would 'experience the stigmatisation experienced by veiled women in France'.

'It is to raise awareness, open the debate and give the floor to women who are often debated on in public but rarely heard,' said Laetitia Demaya, one of the organisers.

The Sciences Po initiative, which trended at the top of French Twitter under the hashtag #HijabDay, drew a mixture of praise and anger.

Former agriculture minister Bruno le Maire, who now teaches at Sciences Po and is also angling for the right-wing Republicans party's presidential nomination, expressed his 'disapproval' on Twitter.

'In France women are visible. No to proselytising,' he wrote.

Community: Hijab Day organiser Laetitia Demaya said the event was designed to 'raise awareness, open the debate and give the floor to women who are often debated on in public but rarely heard'

Controversial: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said last week that he would ideally see all forms of religious veils banned at universities in France

Philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Levy tweeted: 'Hijab Day at Sc Po. When will there be a sharia day? Stoning? Slavery?'� �

'This is a provocation and we denounce the religious character of the event,' Carla Sasiela, the head of the UNI student union, told The Local.^[2]

Her group said the event is a 'total contradiction of the values of the Republic and the respect for women's rights'.

Writing on its Facebook page, the student wing of the far-right National Front (FN) criticised an initiative coming from a 'Parisian middle class disconnected from social reality'.

'T his initiative is particularly nauseating when women all over the world are fighting to throw off their shackles. In Iran, for example, women have acid thrown in their faces if they don't wear the veil,' it said.

The university distanced itself from the initiative in a statement on Twitter, saying the fact it was taking place on the campus 'should not be interpreted as support.'

Banned: The wearing of full-face veils in public spaces has been banned under French law since April 2011

Sc iences Po's Hijab Day was held just days after France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he wants all forms of Muslim headscarves to be banned in universities.

In an interview with the daily newspaper, Liberation, Prime Minister Valls said France should 'protect' French Muslims from extremist ideology.

He said the headscarf, when worn for political reasons, oppresses women and is not 'an object of fashion or consumption like any other.'

Asked whether to outlaw headscarves in universities, Mr Valls is quoted as saying 'it should be done, but there are constitutional rules that make this ban difficult.'

The wearing of full-face veils in public spaces has been banned under French law since April 2011.

The 2010 'Act prohibiting concealment of the face in pu blic space', applies not only full-face veils or burqas worn by some Muslim women, but all face-covering headgear, including masks, helmets and balaclavas.

The only exceptions are when ordered otherwise under French law - such as motorbike helmets while riding or for work requiring the face to be covered for health and safety reasons.