This month, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling on swimming. Yes, it was about swimming – a Swiss Muslim couple wanted to take their two girls out of mixed swimming lessons, but the school rejected their request and after a lengthy legal battle, the case landed in the ECHR. The ruling is interesting in itself, but the responses from both Muslim and non-Muslim quarters were particularly instructive.
A number of Muslims in Europe and elsewhere expressed disappointment that the case had gone to the ECHR in the first place. They believed that there was no need to escalate it to this level. However, not all had the same reasons for this stance.
Some argued that the European court had an unenviable track record on dealing with cases related to Muslims' religious freedom. Considering cases such as the decades-long headscarf ban in Turkey that ended in 2013, such an objection was not without basis. Others said that the school had already made a relaxation as it allowed for a burqini to be worn by the children in question. That is compounded by the fact that the children in question were only 8 and 11 years old. Therefore, even by the standards of conservative Islamic law, they wouldn’t have been obliged to cover.
Outside the Muslim community, many took the oft-repeated line of argument insisting that this was yet more evidence that Muslims in Europe could not be integrated into society and their conservative lifestyle was essentially a threat to Europe. Indeed, many indicated on social media that if the Swiss couple didn’t like the ruling, they should “go back to their country” – wherever that is supposed to be.
It is an extraordinary episode. On the one hand, it was clearly unwise to take the case to the ECHR. The couple had been offered a compromise and it was a compromise that, in itself, was fair, considering the ages of the girls.
But even if the couple were unwise in taking the case to the ECHR, that ought not have resulted in much of the content in a ruling of this nature. The verdict stipulated that “school played a special role in the process of social integration, particularly where children of foreign origin were concerned”. It also noted the school was “facilitating their successful social integration according to local customs and mores”.
That is not a legal declaration, but a political one. The definitions of “social integration” or “local customs and mores” were not specified in the ruling, nor could they be as they are not defined anywhere. The court should have remained committed to upholding purely the law instead of delivering such a deep political statement that has wide-ranging consequences. That's because it basically stipulates that if a school, a state or a court decides that “social mores” are being contradicted, then there can be legal intervention to uphold those “social mores”. That’s a highly invasive way for a state to govern society, and it isn’t one that we ought to view passively.
The irony of this case is that while the couple might have been unwise to take the case to court, they did show their Europeanness by taking it to the highest court on the European continent, recognising its authority and probity – that too at a time when other European countries, such as the UK, have high-ranking politicians arguing for an exit from the European court’s authority. Didn’t that very act of the Swiss couple prove their commitment to European institutions?
Perhaps the most uncomfortable part of this case is the reaction from a section of society raising questions about the couple’s right to be considered European.
If the couple were orthodox Jews or conservative Catholics or followers of any other conservative faith, they would have perhaps raised a similar objection to mixed swimming classes. In that case, would they have been urged to leave Europe? Of course not. Surely, this issue wouldn’t have even been raised.
Is that the European value we are supposed to read from this case? That one can be somehow expelled from the European family just on the grounds of being a Muslim and conservative, even if that conservatism is similar to others belonging to other faith communities? Is this what a liberal political order in Europe in 2017 is supposed to uphold, when “social mores” are defined by the actions of a section of society, while others are permitted to stray from the majority without having their citizenship called into question?
Those are far more pertinent questions for Europe than those regarding mixed swimming lessons for children. It hits at the root of what it means to be European in 2017, against the backdrop of a growing anti-Muslim populism across the continent. We ought to be concerned about that.
Dr HA Hellyer is a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington and the Royal United Services Institute in London
On Twitter: @hahellyer
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Points Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 63
2. Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) 38
3. Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 25
4. Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain) 24
5. Mark Cavendish (Britain / Dimension Data) 22
6. Taylor Phinney (U.S. / Cannondale) 21
7. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 20
8. Thomas Boudat (France / Direct Energie) 20
9. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) 17
10. Michael Matthews (Australia / Sunweb) 17
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.