The Swiss manifesto against the Islamic headscarf

  • Switzerland, the canton of St. Gallen approves the ban on the burqa with 67%

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March 06, 2021 Tomorrow in Switzerland the referendum promoted by the Egerkingen committee linked to the ultra-nationalist Right that calls for the abolition of the right to cover their faces for women of Islamic faith.



Citizens will have to comment on the ban on wearing the Niqab and Burka in public spaces, which the promoting committee, already known for the 'no' to the construction of minarets approved in a popular consultation in 2009, considers a sign of radicalization.



"Stop radical Islam!"

it is in fact the slogan imprinted on the posters inviting to vote yes, in the background a woman's face with a black Niqab and her eyes covered by black sunglasses.

Objective "Stop the Islamization of Switzerland", in a country where about 5% of the 8.6 million inhabitants are Muslim and the use of the Burqa and the Niqab is almost absent.



The initiative enjoys the full support of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) and the conservative Right UDC, the country's first political formation.

Instead, it is opposed by the majority of Parliament.

But the nature of the question divides the parties, with for and against the Right and the Left.

"In a free country you show your face", Anian Liebrand, spokesman for the Egerkinger committee and member of the UDC summarizes over the phone with the newspaper El Pais. 



"Women must decide on their own body", is the line of the Swiss socialist party that claims the right of women to dress as they want and sees in the referendum question an attack on religious freedom marked by Islamophobia and racism.

Some feminists and exponents of liberal Islam, including the imam of Bern, Mustafa Memeti, also said they were in favor.



The outcome of the consultation is currently uncertain.

The latest polls give a slight majority of Yes, but the number of those in favor is in sharp decline compared to previous surveys.

The anti-burqa proposal, supported by the right-wing populist party UDC, provides for a ban on covering one's face with exceptions for "reasons relating to health, safety, climatic conditions and local customs". 



In any case, the government and the majority of Parliament (where the UDC has the largest number of seats) have repeatedly expressed perplexity regarding the proposal to legislate on a phenomenon that is "marginal" in the confederation. 



"The ban offers no protection against extremism and terrorism," is the idea of ​​Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter who argues that the cantons should legislate on this.

Also strengthened by the fact that Canton Ticino (South) and Canton San Galo (North-east) have already done so.

In the first, the Burka ban has been in force since 2016, in the second since 2019. Other cantons such as Zurich, Schwyz or Glarus have declared their opposition to the ban.