Right-wing parliamentarians and republicans on Thursday walked out of a meeting of the French legislature protesting the presence of a veiled student. On the subject, Anne-Christine Lang, member of La Republique En Marche party said in a tweet that she cannot digest the presence of a person who appears in a hijab at a meeting held at the National Assembly, the heart of democracy. She was referring to the representative of the student union at Sorbonne, Maryam Pougetoux. Lang went on to say: “As a feminist deputy and advocate of women’s rights, I cannot accept the participation of someone wearing a headscarf at the meeting.” On the other hand, the ruling party member Sandrine Morch chairing the session, said the legislators’ backlash was pointless, stressing that there were no rules that prevent individuals in religious attire from attending meetings. She warned that she would not allow the fake headscarf debate to shift the focus of the meeting tackling the future of France’s youth. Recalling, that Pougetoux, appointed in 2018 as president of the student union (UNEF) at Sorbonne University, was strongly criticized by a number of ministers for the same reason. (Al Diyar, September 19, 2020)