Habib Bourguiba the transgressive nature of many of Bourguiba's gestures, particularly in women's status. Furthermore, Jean Daniel mentioned a conversation between Bourguiba and Jacques Berque about Islam. For Bourguiba, religion, associated to the Destourian party, had historically favored the colonization of Tunisia. On the other hand, Charfi opposed this idea, stating that the undeniable break carried out by Bourguiba occurred more with traditional society than with Islam, as such. Bourguiba was very critical of the veil, on various occasions referring to it as "that odious rag". During the time Bourguiba was president, education was a high priority, as he reformed the total
Habib Bourguiba Bourguiba often participated in political debates, read newspapers and followed closely the evolution of French politics during the Third Republic. Sensitive to the ideas of Leon Blum, following the Congress of Tours, he was opposed to the Bolsheviks and got interested in Gandhi's process to transform the Indian national Congress in a powerful mass organization. In addition, he showed a great interest in his Tunisian fellow, Mahmoud El Materi. After vacations spent between Mahdia and Monastir, Bourguiba returned to Paris for the start of the 1925–26 school year, worried about the nationalist struggle in his country. His conditions improved as