BRITIAN: A Muslim girl refused to attend school because she had to wear the same uniform as "disbelieving women".
This was one of the reasons put forward to the House of Lords by representatives of 17-year-old Shabina Begum, who won a landmark court victory last March that her school had infringed her human rights.
Denbigh High School in Luton, Bedfordshire, is asking a panel of five judges to overturn the ruling that found that Ms Begum was unlawfully excluded when she was sent home to change out of her traditional jilbab into approved school uniform.
She had worn the shalwar kameez (trousers and tunic) from the age of 12 until September 2002, when she and her brother told assistant head teacher Stuart Moore that she would wear it no longer because it was against the rules of her religion.
Richard McManus QC, representing the school, said that to try to accommodate all faiths the school had adopted the shalwar kameez, which was a garment worn by many faiths on the Indian subcontinent.
He said that a letter from solicitors acting for Ms Begum said she must not wear a dress "normally worn by disbelieving women".
Cherie Booth QC, for Ms Begum, said: "It is not because it is not just a Muslim dress. It is because it is not modest enough."