The Tunisian government launched a new campaign against the Islamic headscarf, or Hijab, a move that human rights groups describe as “unconstitutional”, the BBC reported.

Police have been instructed to apply a decree which bans women from wearing the Hijab in public places.

Under the decree, introduced in 1981, Tunisian women are banned from wearing headscarves in schools or government offices.

Those who insist on wearing the Hijab risk losing their jobs.

According to the BBC, police stop veiled women on the streets and ask them to take off their headscarves and sign pledges that they won’t wear them back.

One woman even said that she was barred from entering her son's school wearing a headscarf.

Although Islam is the official state religion in Tunisia, the African country bans Muslim women from wearing the Hijab in public places.

Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ali has described the Hijab as a “sectarian form of dress” which had come into Tunisia “uninvited.”

Other Tunisian officials say that the Islamic dress is used by some people who use their religion to hide their political aims.

“Unconstitutional”

Human rights groups describe the Hijab ban as “unconstitutional” because the Tunisian constitution provides for the free exercise of religions, accusing the authorities of depriving women of a basic right.

Rights activists also say that many people oppose the ban, but cannot express their anger because the government doesn’t tolerate opposition.

President Zine El Abidine Ali restricts the spread of ideas which could boost the country's outlawed Islamic opposition.

In the 1990s, he moved to crush Tunisia's main moderate Islamic movement when fighting broke out in neighboring Algeria between Islamists and the state.

The Islamic headscarf is meant to cover a Muslim woman’s hair, neck, throat and the upper part of her chest to protect her from the eyes of men outside her family.

But the hijab isn’t just about clothing, it is mainly to preserve women’s dignity and honor. In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) instructs his followers on how to behave towards each other by saying in Surat An-Nur that all Muslim men and women should “lower the gaze”. Therefore, ordering a Muslim woman to remove her hijab is like asking her to ignore one of her key religious obligations.