(sda) In the dispute over whether a Muslim girl in St.Margrethen in the canton of St. Gallen with a headscarf should attend primary school, the single judge of the district court Rhine Valley acquitted the two parents. The family have called to right to freedom of religion.
The prosecution had punished the parents last October. They should have their education and fiduciary duty violated, violate the cantonal public school law and against official orders. The parents appealed to the penal and were thus on Wednesday in Altstaetten also in the canton of St. Gallen before a single judge.
The school St.Margrethen had after the summer holidays in 2013 required the student to attend classes without a headscarf. Then the girl remained for several weeks away from school. The parents raised the cantonal Department of Education complaint against the headscarf ban. There, the case is still pending.
(Google translate being used)
Source: http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/schweiz/muslimische-eltern-freigesprochen-1.18256705
Categories: Europe, Switzerland
Why are the parents complaining and talking about ‘freedom of religion’? There is also freedom of association. If the child cannot comply with the rules of the school, she should find an alternative. The school has the right to make its rules without being bullied. If the school chooses not to be associated with her, they will be acting within the law. Going against the mask is nothing compared to having her throat slashed or her being shot to death as would have occurred in some communities.
In ‘secular’ Malaysia, certain words remain the preserve of a particular religious group. Is there freedom of speech in Malaysia and who is complaining about its absence or violation, if there is one?
In Switzerland you have to go to the school near your residence. You do not have a choice. In ‘secular’ Malaysia: You may (or may not) have noticed that The Muslim Times editors and commentators all objected to the Malaysian ruling.
Fine. Then let her obey the orders of the school. People just cannot reset the rules to suit their purposes. If she thinks that there is no freedom of worship in Switzerland, I believe the door remains wide open for her to return to wherever she fled from and enjoy the freedom offered there.
The hijab reminds people who see it that God exists, and it serves as a constant reminder to me that I should conduct myself as a Muslim. Just as police officers are more professionally aware while in uniform, so I had a stronger sense of being a Muslim wearing my hijab. My hijab made me happy; it was both a sign of my obedience to Allah and a manifestation of my faith. I did not need to utter beliefs, the hijab stated them clearly for all to see, especially fellow Muslims, and thus it helped to strengthen the bonds of sisterhood in Islam.
Muslims are accused of being over-sensitive about the human body but the degree of sexual harassment which occurs these days justifies modest dress. Just as a short skirt can send the signal that the wearer is available to men, so the hijab signals, loud and clear: I am forbidden for you.
Practising Muslims, whether those born in Muslim families or those reverted to Islam, choose Islam rather than the illusory freedom of secular life. If it oppresses women, why are so many well-educated young women in Europe, America, Japan, Australia, indeed all over the world, abandoning liberty and independence and embracing Islam?
A person blinded by prejudice may not see it, but a woman in hijab is as brightly beautiful as an angel, full of self-confidence, serenity, and dignity.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk