PYATIGORSK, March 22 (RIA Novosti) – A court in southern Russia upheld school uniform requirements on Friday banning students from wearing headdresses that the Muslim minority in the region says discriminates against them.
The uniform decree introduced last year by the Stavropol regional government came in apparent response to growing anxiety in some parts of the country to a perceived increase in the influence and visibility of Islam.
Lawyer Murad Musayev, who challenged the ban, says the motivations of the Stavropol territorial court have not yet been made public, but that the decision would be appealed.
Uniform rules introduced by the region prohibited schoolchildren from wearing brightly colored clothes, trousers and skirts with low waistlines, veils, as well as religious clothing.
Musayev filed the lawsuit against the on behalf of the region’s Muslims.
Women’s traditional clothing in Muslim countries
Stavropol region, which borders the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republics of Dagestan and Chechnya, has a Muslim population of about 300,000, according to the region’s Muslim Board.