hussain.mahammed
a lonely traveller
There are currently only two mosques with minarets in Switzerland.
ZURICH — The far-right in the Western European country of Switzerland is spearheading a campaign for a legal ban against building minarets, towers attached to mosques, despite opposition from government officials and the Muslim minority.
"We have no doubt that we'll reach the goal," Ulrich Schlueer, a Swiss National Party MP for Zurich and the main champion of the campaign, told Reuters.
The campaign, co-sponsored by the Federal Democratic Union, seeks to collect 100,000 signatures by November 2008 to force the government to put the issue for a referendum.
If approved by a majority vote, the initiative would then be written into law.
"We've now been collecting for a week and we've already got 10,000 signatures," Schlueer said.
The campaigners are basing their drive on article 72 of the Swiss constitution entitling the authorities to take necessary measures to maintain the peace among different religious communities.
The right-wing Swiss People's Party, which campaigns to protect Christian values and Swiss traditions from strange cultures, claimed that minarets are a symbol of power and threaten law and order in Switzerland.
There are currently only two minarets in Switzerland, in both Zurich and Geneva.
The Muslim call to prayer is not raised from these minarets.
Last November, the Administrative Court in the canton of Solothurn upheld a project to build a mosque with a minaret in the northern town of Wangen.
It ruled that plans to add a six-meter minaret to a prayer center respected existing and relevant laws.
"The liberty to practice a religion is guaranteed in Switzerland,"Calmy-Rey insisted.
The campaign drew reprimands from both Swiss officials and Muslims.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, a Social Democrat, rebuked the ban proposal, saying it would have a negative impact on the country's stability.
"Such an initiative endangers Swiss interests and the security of Swiss people," she said.
The top diplomat, who is this year's Swiss president, also underlined that the ban would contradict the country's constitution which enshrines religious freedoms.
"The liberty to practice a religion is guaranteed in Switzerland."
Defense Minister Samuel Schmid, a member of the Swiss People's Party, said the campaign was "going down the wrong road."
"We would not solve any problems with such a move," he told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
The Muslim minority, estimated at nearly 340,000, was stunned by the Islamophobic move.
"As an organization that is helping Muslims to integrate and become model citizens, we are shocked by this initiative," Adel Méjri, president of the League of Swiss Muslims, told swissinfo.
Islam is the second religion in the country after Christianity.
source: islamonline.net
ZURICH — The far-right in the Western European country of Switzerland is spearheading a campaign for a legal ban against building minarets, towers attached to mosques, despite opposition from government officials and the Muslim minority.
"We have no doubt that we'll reach the goal," Ulrich Schlueer, a Swiss National Party MP for Zurich and the main champion of the campaign, told Reuters.
The campaign, co-sponsored by the Federal Democratic Union, seeks to collect 100,000 signatures by November 2008 to force the government to put the issue for a referendum.
If approved by a majority vote, the initiative would then be written into law.
"We've now been collecting for a week and we've already got 10,000 signatures," Schlueer said.
The campaigners are basing their drive on article 72 of the Swiss constitution entitling the authorities to take necessary measures to maintain the peace among different religious communities.
The right-wing Swiss People's Party, which campaigns to protect Christian values and Swiss traditions from strange cultures, claimed that minarets are a symbol of power and threaten law and order in Switzerland.
There are currently only two minarets in Switzerland, in both Zurich and Geneva.
The Muslim call to prayer is not raised from these minarets.
Last November, the Administrative Court in the canton of Solothurn upheld a project to build a mosque with a minaret in the northern town of Wangen.
It ruled that plans to add a six-meter minaret to a prayer center respected existing and relevant laws.
"The liberty to practice a religion is guaranteed in Switzerland,"Calmy-Rey insisted.
The campaign drew reprimands from both Swiss officials and Muslims.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, a Social Democrat, rebuked the ban proposal, saying it would have a negative impact on the country's stability.
"Such an initiative endangers Swiss interests and the security of Swiss people," she said.
The top diplomat, who is this year's Swiss president, also underlined that the ban would contradict the country's constitution which enshrines religious freedoms.
"The liberty to practice a religion is guaranteed in Switzerland."
Defense Minister Samuel Schmid, a member of the Swiss People's Party, said the campaign was "going down the wrong road."
"We would not solve any problems with such a move," he told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
The Muslim minority, estimated at nearly 340,000, was stunned by the Islamophobic move.
"As an organization that is helping Muslims to integrate and become model citizens, we are shocked by this initiative," Adel Méjri, president of the League of Swiss Muslims, told swissinfo.
Islam is the second religion in the country after Christianity.
source: islamonline.net
