Geneva, May 26 : Muslim school students in the Swiss canton of Basel cannot refuse to shake hands with their female teachers on religious grounds, otherwise their parents will face fines, local authorities have ruled.
“The public interest with respect to equality between men and women and the integration of foreigners significantly outweighs the freedom of conscience (freedom of religion) of the students,” the department of education, culture and sport in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, northern Switzerland, said on Wednesday, RT online reported.
According to the department, if students refuse to shake hands, it means that they involve others “in a religious act.”
“The social gesture of a handshake is important for the employability of the students later in their professional lives,” it said.
Thus, if such an incident happens, the parents of a student who refuses to shake hands will have to pay a fine of up to 5,000 francs ($5,046), the legislation states. Also the child may face “educational, useful, necessary and proportionate” measures.
The ruling comes almost two months after a controversial case in the northern Swiss municipality of Therwi, Basel canton, when two male pupils, aged 14 and 15, refused to shake hands with their female teachers. They said this went against their religious beliefs.
The boys argued that Islam does not permit any physical contact between members of the opposite sex, unless it is between family members.
The school then passed a controversial ruling, saying that the students will no longer have to shake hands with female teachers. On Wednesday the authorities said they abolished the ruling.
Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga then said that “shaking hands is part of our culture” and Christoph Eymann, who heads the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education added: “We cannot tolerate that women in the public service are treated differently from men.”
The ‘shaking-hands’ incident is not the first of this kind in Switzerland. In November, the Swiss canton of Ticino said women wearing the burqa or niqab would be faced with a fine of up to $9,790, after the government made it illegal for them to wear the veils in public.
The law makes no exceptions for tourists. People visiting Ticino will be informed at airports and by customs officials at the Italian border that it is unlawful in the canton to hide their face.—IANS
A guide to sexual eroticism & immoral egoism prevail in east & west
as we read teachers having sex with young students.
Muslims institutes must introduce news academic Syllabuses along with
Islamic Syllabus .Else nudity will increase as in films.
Any government can tolerate religious beliefs upto some extent. After that it becomes burden. The same is the problem with Europe. Muslims community is burden to all countries except middle east. Muslims are guest in Europe. If they are so concerned about their religious beliefs then they should live in middle east only. It is a common sense that if you are going to another country, you must obey their rules. I fully support Swiss government decision.
@SECULAR HINDU…..hindutwaadi idiot first ask your sanghi/bajrangi thugs why they oppose valentines day and all of western culture.
My Dear Secular Hindu,
The religion you follow and I follow teach us good things for the betterment of all human-beings. You or myself should not criticize any good thing preached in the respective religion.
The incident under reference could be justified as there were many cases like – lady teachers abused the young boys and this may be the reason why the Muslim boys refused to shake hands with their lady teacher. Please note that shaking hands are not their religious believes but those are man made social activities.
You know there are many ways to express the gesture without shaking hands and therefore please refrain from making anti – muslim slogans just because you are an hindu and wish to oppose every thing said in the religion Islam, willingly or unwillingly.
I just don’t get if I don’t want to shake hand how can somebody force me to do this? It’s been mentioned in the article that the department of education, culture and sport in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, northern Switzerland, said if students refuse to shake hands, it means that they involve others “in a religious act.” Well then I would also say that If you are forcing us to shake hands then you are also involving us in your “so-called cultural beliefs” which I don’t like. If I don’t shake hands with woman, then is the woman tortured, will the woman lose anything?
These days people has become so mad at Muslims that they are hell-bent on opposing anything that Muslims believe doesn’t matter if there is any good in it. The fact is that THEY WE HAVE TO OPPOSE.