Uproar in France after school chief quits in hijab row
French politicians from across the spectrum on Wednesday expressed dismay over the resignation of a Paris school principal who had received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the premises. In a show of support, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a former education minister, was set to receive the principal later on Wednesday, his office said. Secularism and religion are hot-button issues in France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim community. In 2004, authorities banned school children from wearing "signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" such as headscarves, turbans or kippas on the basis of the country's secular laws which are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions. The headmaster's departure comes amid deep tensions in the country following a series of incidents including the killing of a teacher by an Islamist former pupil last year. The headmaster at the Maurice-Ravel lycee in eastern Paris quit after receiving death threats online following an altercation with a student last month, officials said on Tuesday. In late February, he had asked three students to remove their Islamic headscarves on school premises, but one of them refused and an altercation ensued, according to prosecutors. He later received death threats online. In a message addressed to the school's staff, quoted by French communist daily L'Humanite, the principal said that he had taken the decision to leave for his "safety and that of the school." Education officials said he had taken "early retirement."  A 26-year-old man has been arrested for making death threats against the principal on the internet. He is due to stand trial in April. The uproar comes as dozens of French schools have received threats in recent weeks. Attal has pledged to "hunt down" the people responsible for sending them. (AFP)