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Australian Prime Minister John Howard Monday dismissed a call to ban girls from wearing Muslim headscarves in public schools.

Bronwyn Bishop, a prominent lawmaker in Howard’s ruling Liberal Party, urged the ban. Howard, who held a summit with moderate Muslim leaders last week to counter Islamic extremism, said such a prohibition isn’t practical.

Bishop then repeated her call. “It has become the icon, the symbol of the clash of cultures, and it runs much deeper than a piece of cloth,” she told Australia’s ABC radio.

Education ministers from two states–who would be responsible for applying the ban–also rejected the proposal.