Cairo: Students wearing the niqab (a full face veil) plan to lodge a complaint with the United Nations against Egypt's biggest public university for allegedly violating their rights, according to their lawyer.
"The Cairo University has signed an agreement with the UN allowing those students to complain to the international organisation about denying them the right to education and sitting for exams because they wear the niqab," said the lawyer Nezar Al Gorab. He added that the report to be compiled by the UN on the issue would negatively affect the integrity and standing of the university.
No official at the university was immediately available for comment.
Controversy
The controversy over the niqab in this predominantly Muslim country erupted last October when Mohammad Al Tantawi, then Grand Shaikh of Al Azhar, which is the Sunni world's leading seat of learning, banned wearing the niqab in female-only classes and dormitories.
The top Muslim cleric said that wearing the veil is not an Islamic duty.
A few days later, Minister of Higher Education Hani Al Hilal followed suit, citing security reasons. He explained that several men were caught putting on the niqab to enter university hostels.
Later, Hilal barred niqab-donning students from taking their exams unless they remove their veils. He also ordered that niqab-wearing female lecturers should not be allowed into classes.
The ban has sparked protests and prompted niqab-wearing students and lecturers to go to court to have the order revoked.
Some of them have secured court rulings in their favour. "The Cairo University is still refusing to implement rulings issued in favour of niqab-wearing lecturers," said Al Gorab.
