Imagine a nice day on the beaches in the south of France. The waves roll over the sand and the sun is shining, but then a police officer goes up to a woman and fine her when she was doing nothing wrong in the first place.

This is a violation of religious liberty and the freedom to wear what one wants.

In the wake of recent terror attacks committed by ISIS in Paris and Nice over the past two years, over 19 towns in southern France have passed laws banning the burkini. A burkini is a garment worn by Muslim women to the beach that covers most of the body and covers the hair like a hijab.

CBS News says that Nice is amongst the towns that have banned the garment. The laws prove to be faulty when there is no connection between ISIS and the Islamic principles. Global backlash has sparked over the image of Muslim women wearing burkinis being fined in Villeneuve-Loubet, in the south of France. There are also reports in Cannes, where three women have been fined 38 euros each, the Indian Express says.

There has been some improvement of the situation, however, as Bloomberg reported that the highest French court of law struck down the burkini ban in Villeneuve-Loubet saying it infringes upon religious liberty. The towns that have banned burkinis are still keeping the law in place despite the issuance by the Supreme Court counterpart.

There is clear irony in this situation because in the French culture there are nude beaches where women can bathe topless, yet they face criticism for that as well. It is important to be able to freely wear what you want and embody whatever morals you wish. The effect of this event has spread worldwide.

It is very paranoid to ban a religious garment based on terror attacks. Sure, there is some concern there. But the lawmakers in the south of France could have done more research to prevent such controversy that is in the media today, disdaining the French values of “liberté, égalité, et fraternité”.

According to CNN, as of August 30 the mayor of a French town that is upholding the burkini ban said, “You have to behave in the way that people behave in the country that accepted you, and that is it.”

While some southern French towns have lifted their burkini bans as of September 1, there is still the bitter aftertaste of the violation in liberty with the towns that are upholding the ban. The societal control of what people wear is omnipresent in this ban and everyone to some degree can sympathize to this issue. We, the people of the world, will not sit by and let this happen.