It may sound strange but France's highest administrative court upheld a decision to give a French passport to a Muslim woman because she did not shake her hands with the officials. The woman, an Algerian Muslim refused for a handshake with the officials at the citizenship ceremony, as per the ruling seen by AFP. When the woman was present in the office she argued that her 'religious beliefs' did not allow her to shake hands with a senior official. This happened at southeastern Isere region in June 2016, as well as with a local politician.

The government gave a reason that her behaviour showed she was "not assimiliated into the French community," one of the reasons which can invoke denial of the citizenship under the civil code. The woman's spouse is a French national. She has appealed for the decision given in April 2017 calling it as an abuse of power. She has been married since 2010. But now the Council of State, the court which gives the last appeal for such matters, ruled the government "had not improperly applied" the law.

There have been strange reasons for citizenship rejections. In one of the cases, a woman from UK who was seeking a US citizenship was not given a citizenship because her morality statement did not have a religious backing. The 64-year old was asked as a part of the process she'd be willing to take up arms in defense of the United States of America. In a very honest manner, the woman denied and pointed out that she would never participate in any of the war activities for moral or ethical reasons.

She had said she would do work of national importance or to perform noncombatant service only if the law made her do it. She also stated she was an atheist. In the process to continue her application she was asked to submit a letter from the elders of her church to prove her conscientious objections are religiously based!

Religion has played a role in given citizenship at several times but in the case of Muslim woman, for denying a handshake seems very unsettling.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2018 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).