Tariq Ramadan defends religious pluralism in Switzerland

Several right-wing politicians in Switzerland recently requested a referendum to ban the building of minarets, which they consider the symbols of the Muslim religion's demand for political power. The University professor Tariq Ramadan, an Islam specialist, recalls the fact that "Islam is now a Swiss religion. It is not by changing laws and demanding that Muslims become invisible that we will win the struggle for democracy, multiculturalism and religious plurality. Muslims should have the right to build mosques and minarets just as they should respect national laws and sensitivity. This does not however mean that we should respect the diktats of a far-right that is bringing back to the forefront of the political arena the nationalist rejection and racist hate that we believed buried with the darkest chapters of European history."

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