Burkini in peace, for now

Some French cities on the Mediterranean shore do not like the sight of full-body swimsuits called burkini on their beaches, their officials saying they are offensive to the French culture and way of life, and issued a ban on them.

France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat, on Friday issued a ruling suspending the ban imposed by the Mediterranean beach town of Villeneuve-Loubet, pending further judicial scrutiny of the issues raised by the ban.

In actual terms, the burkini swimsuit looks very much like the suits divers wear when they go deep sea diving.

It is not really offensives to the eye, it might be cumbersome to the wearer, but to each his own.

In principle one should have the right to choose one’s attire, for swimming or for whatever other purpose, as long as it does not violate certain norms and practices, more recently related to security.

It is clear that covering one’s face completely impedes effective security checks and the right of a state to maintain law and order by remaining vigilant and able to identify a person who may pose security threats.

Concealing one’s face, however, is one thing, concealing one’s body is another.

People wear overcoats in winter, under which they can hide weapons. Therefore, this pretext alone can be no justification for banning the burkini.

A different issue raised by this vexing — to some — item of clothing is whether countries or societies have the right to preserve and promote their mainstream culture and way of life.

What it all boils down to here is the issue of multiculturalism versus mainstream cultural values.

And here, to the dislike of some, a reasonable middle ground must be found to reconcile the two rights, with the understanding that mainstream cultural values should prevail over multicultural values when there is a distinct contradiction between them.

Burkinis on their own should not necessarily give rise to a clash between mainstream cultural values and way of life and certain practices of a minority.

And if the wearer — who, if true religious justification were to be given, should not wear body-hugging, shape-revealing items of clothing, nor should she be out in a public space where some are “immodestly” dressed, by the same justification — does not mind sweating under the full body suit, why should anyone else do?

The French high court, therefore, reached the right decision by suspending the ban imposed by some, pending the consideration of all the human rights implications relevant to the ban, and they are many.

For the time being, the burkini issue is put to rest on the French coast. More pressing and important things can be dealt with now, and they are also many.