Secularism has been a highly debated point of discussion in various countries, especially in the context of France. Many people believe that the French Republic has complicated many things when it comes to religion and secularism. The secularism in France is identified by Lacite, separation of Church and state enunciated in a 1905 law, a contentious concept in modern times. In a recent unfortunate incident, a middle-school teacher named Samuel Paty was brutally murdered in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Paris. Emmanuel Macron, the President of France paid his respect to Paty and said that he was trying to teach the children how to become citizens and was fighting for freedom.

The concept of secularism was first introduced in the French Republic by the French President, Jacques Chirac. A fresh secular law was introduced in the country (2004) after Bernard Stasi had presented his report in 2003. The law was based on 3 principles which included – religion and individual, state and the individual, and the religion and state. As per the analysis of a scholar from University of Calgary, Donald Smith, these three principles have been compared to the three sides of a triangle, and the state and religion greatly influence the first 2 sets of principles. In conclusion, there needs to be a separation between the state and the Church for all the individuals to practice their religion with equal rights.

Following the secular law, the citizens are allowed to display religious symbols in public. However, the French Republic had exempted students in government universities and schools from expressing such religious symbols on school premises on the grounds of uniformity. The church and state separation had been initiated in 1905, when the National Assembly passed a Republican Law. As per the law, people were guaranteed free exercise of their religious practices and had been given liberty of conscience. In addition to this, no particular religion was considered superior in terms of salary deliverance.

The Stasi report had claimed that the Islamic religion is ‘incompatible’ with secularism which was provocatively passed by legislation. However, all the private companies and firms have maintained neutrality based on religion.

Secularism is now a key concept that drives the French Republic who is trying to maintain religious diversity. However, there are still many activities that are considered racist and non-secular as expressed by the minorities in France. For instance, on April 11, 2011, it was announced that “concealing faces in public has been made illegal in the country”, which affected most of the muslim women who wore burqas and naqabs.

The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness.