The recent acts of terror that have taken place in France have forced open an uncomfortable dialogue that may be taking a turn for the worst.

The mayor of Cannes has banned women from wearing burkinis, a coined term referring to full-bodied swimsuits that comply with the traditional Muslim value of modesty. The ban has been supported by multiple French officials who believe that the garment is a symbol of extremist Islamism that, when worn in public, may be a danger to secularism and public order. However, the amount attention officials have put towards criticizing burkinis has only increased tension and disharmony, which really shouldn't surprise you.

A violent dispute that broke out on the beach of a Corsican village seems to be the culmination of the strain over the controversial ban. While the details of the origin of the fight are unclear, the brawl was made up of about 40 individuals. As police officers were called to the beach in an effort to contain the fight, three cars were torched and at least five people were taken to a hospital. Afterward, Corsican mayor Pierre-Ange Vivoni decided to ban the burkini as well, becoming the third French official to ban the swimsuit.

But this isn't the first time France has enacted laws that have been criticized for targeting Muslims. Back in 2011, former president Nicolas Sarkozy passed a law that banned individuals from wearing a niqab, a full-face veil, in all public spaces.

Whether or not you support the fundamental significance of the burkini itself, the fact of the matter is that a ban that penalizes women for not revealing enough skin is clearly bizarre and uncalled-for.

As multiple French associations — most notably the French Human Rights League and The Collective Against Islamophobia in France — are planning to take legal action to have the law overthrown, many are voicing their opinions on what is now being known as #BurkiniGate.

France is at the height of tension after the attacks in Nice and the murder of a French Catholic priest, but instead of promoting and emphasizing human rights, France is marginalizing and discriminating against its Muslim citizens. They will now have to pull together to earn the right to religious freedom that has no longer been guaranteed for quite some time now.