Tunisia: Students Wearing Niqab in Manouba University to Begin Hunger Strike

16 January 2012

During a press conference held today, protesters at Manouba University's Faculty of Arts and Humanities announced that the students wearing the niqab (full-face veil) will begin an open hunger strike tomorrow, January 17, until their demands are met.

The niqab incident at Manouba University started on November 28, 2011, when a group of Salafists - Muslims belonging to a strict Islamist fundamentalist school of thought - protested against the ban of the niqab. Girls wearing the face-covering were prohibited from taking their exams or attending classes. The protesters demanded that students be allowed to wear the niqab and that an area for prayer be provided inside the university. Administrative faculty and professors rejected the demonstrators' demands, which resulted in the suspension of classes for weeks.

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