Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday waded into a controversial debate over a hijab ban at a Russian school, saying that the country’s secular nature should prevail over religious feelings.
“We must always treat the religious feelings of people with great respect. That must be shown in the state’s activities, in the nuances, in everything,” Putin told supporters, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
“Secondly we have a secular state and we must proceed from this basis,” he added, after being asked for his view on the case of a school in southern Russia that banned girls from wearing the Islamic headscarf. Russian state media interpreted Putin’s ambiguous comments as expressing his backing for a hijab ban.
“Putin spoke out against the wearing of hijabs in schools,” the website of Rossiya 24 rolling news channel reported.
Putin spoke after the Muslim leader of the southern Stavropol region complained this week that female pupils at one school were refusing to go to lessons because the authorities did not permit them to wear hijabs.