Paris:
The Swiss vote saying 'yes' to banning the construction of minarets has sparked off a debate all over Europe, whether extreme right or secular left is the public opinion on Islam equally hostile?
The posters of the party that launched the minaret campaign in Switzerland, show white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag, crows shredding the Swiss flag into bits and minarets shaped like missiles with burqa clad figures.
In neighbouring France, where church bells are not allowed to ring for prayer services but only to indicate the time, secularism means religion has to be understated and kept out of matters of the state. But some feel that the secular opinion, instead of being neutral, could also be turning hostile to Muslims living in Europe.
"We are framing the issue of integration of migrants as a moral divide, a conflict between values. There will be all values; the secular values being part of this framing as opposed to their values - like Islam, polygamy, deviance whatsoever. We discover that we can be progressive in terms of values and very intolerant vis a vis others," said Christophe Bertossi, from French Institute of International Relations.
The Swiss vote is not just being seen as a huge triumph of the extreme right in Europe, but also raising concerns that the idea of secularism where neutrality is seen as progressive is perhaps also being used as a tool to challenge Muslim identity, pushing Muslims living in Europe into a tight corner.
The posters of the party that launched the minaret campaign in Switzerland, show white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag, crows shredding the Swiss flag into bits and minarets shaped like missiles with burqa clad figures.
In neighbouring France, where church bells are not allowed to ring for prayer services but only to indicate the time, secularism means religion has to be understated and kept out of matters of the state. But some feel that the secular opinion, instead of being neutral, could also be turning hostile to Muslims living in Europe.
"We are framing the issue of integration of migrants as a moral divide, a conflict between values. There will be all values; the secular values being part of this framing as opposed to their values - like Islam, polygamy, deviance whatsoever. We discover that we can be progressive in terms of values and very intolerant vis a vis others," said Christophe Bertossi, from French Institute of International Relations.
The Swiss vote is not just being seen as a huge triumph of the extreme right in Europe, but also raising concerns that the idea of secularism where neutrality is seen as progressive is perhaps also being used as a tool to challenge Muslim identity, pushing Muslims living in Europe into a tight corner.
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