On Bullies

We have all encountered bullies in school, work and at different times in our lives. Some of us have louder voices (or quicker fingers)to speak against bullying. In fact I would recommend the fist executed expertly in the occasional pink moon case but that is not what this article is about;

A day ago it was reported in “The Independent UK” that a mother was told to remove her hijab or face being fined by police while relaxing on a beach in France, before reportedly being racially abused by a crowd of locals.

The 34-year-old former air hostess, named only as Siam, was approached by three officers while at La Bocca beach in Cannes with her young children, and was ordered to take off her floral-patterned headscarf.

Siam saod the police read her the details of the headscarf ban on beaches, stating beachgoers must wear “correct clothing, respect secularism, hygiene rules and security” and arguing that her hijab was an “ostentatious” sign of religion.

The mother agreed to pay the €11 fine but was then reportedly surrounded by a crowd shouting “Go home” and “We’re Catholics”, reducing her to tears according to witnesses.

A friend of mine tried to defend the police by throwing forward the ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’ cultural reason and holding the opinion that when we go to the middle east we are advised to cover up and not drink publicly therefore, they should concede by loosening up when they are in our domain.

My question is, have we now decided to choose who we defend from bullies who have found their way into legislative systems around the world?