Sitting at home when she ought to be at school, Arjeta Halimi cuts an unlikely figure at the heart of a debate over identity, religion and education in Muslim-majority Kosovo.

Aged 17, the student from Drobesh in eastern Kosovo has not been allowed to attend school in nearby Vitina since January last year because she refuses to take off her headscarf.

While societies in western Europe grapple with the question of whether to allow Muslim women to wear the burka or niqab, which cover the face, in this Balkans nation the issue has boiled down to a simple headscarf.

Halimi wears a scarf that covers her hair and shoulders, framing her face. It appears to be her personal choice, as none of her four younger sisters wear one.

"I was told by security guards that I could not enter the school premises with my headscarf," she told AFP in an interview in the living room where shyly but politely she answers journalists' questions. "They said they were instructed by the school principal. I refused to take it off and have not been able to return to the school since."

Halimi has a court ruling in her favour, but the school is still refusing Halimi access. They argue they are respecting the constitution, which clearly separates religion and state.

"It's a secular state, with secular schools. We follow the constitution," Vitina's education director Fehri Qerimi said.

Kosovo is westernized and despite its overwhelming Muslim majority, Islamic headscarves are still the exception.

While there is no specific legislation banning headscarves in school, many feel the practice would breach the constitution, which describes Kosovo as a secular state "neutral in matters of religious beliefs."

Others argue that under freedom of worship, Halimi has the constitutional right to wear a garment she feels is an expression of her religious identity.

"It is a severe abuse of (her) human rights," said Fehim Abazi, grand imam of the Muslim community in Vitina.

'It is part of my identity'

Although other female students in the past have been barred from school for refusing to remove their headscarf, this is the first case since Kosovo broke from Serbia in February 2008.

It was Halimi's father who took her case to court with the help of a human rights group, CLARD: the Center for Legal Aid and Regional Development.

After the November 2009 hearings, "the court recognized Arjeta's right to attend classes despite wearing the headscarf," Myrvete Bytyci of CLARD said.

In its ruling, the court referred to children's rights to education and to freedom of religion.
Despite that, the school is still refusing to take Halimi back, saying they are waiting for direct orders from the authorities.

CLARD says the authorities and education ministry are dragging their feet. "We haven't refused her right to education as she is allowed to take exams. We consider her as our child and do not want to expel her from the education process," Qerimi told AFP.

Meanwhile, Halimi remains stuck at home. She spends most of her time doing household chores, attending religious classes at the local mosque and studying Islam's holy book, the Koran.

She has bought schoolbooks and is planning to take her final exams even if she is not allowed to attend classes. "I do not want to take off the headscarf," she insisted. "It is part of my identity."

(Source: AFP)