Just a day before International
Women’s Day, a referendum has conducted in Switzerland on full facial coverings
including niqab and burqa in all public places. Swiss voters have agreed for
ban of full face covering with slight majority.
Anti-burqa vote on March 07
th
came after years of debate in the country. There is an expectation that similar
bans likely to be in other European countries.
The ban was support with 51.2% votes
whereas 48.8% of voters opposed the ban on burqa. The referendum takes place
when the masks are mandatory because of pandemic virus in the country. There is
an approximate 8.6 million Muslims population living in Switzerland which comes
to 5% of country population. Muslim women feel that the choice of wearing the
burqa should leave to their option. But Islamic groups in Switzerland called
March 07th as “dark day” for Muslims in the country. The ban means
that no one should cover their face completely in open places.
There are exceptions on ban including
in places like worship and for health & safety reasons. The referendum on
March 07th has silent on Islam community directly. The supports
argue that full face mask used to escape people after committing crimes. The
Swiss People’s party made a campaign with slogans like stop extremism. Germany
too called for prohibition of full-face veils and gave the choice to implement
to state provinces. France is the first nation to impose the ban on full face veil
in 2011 aiming to oppress women. Does burqa ban in Switzerland come under women
empowerment?
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