Muslim MP calls for government to BAN Christian symbols after burka outlawed in Austria
A MUSLIM MP is urging the Austrian government to consider bans on Christian symbols in classrooms, after the coalition banned Muslim face veils in public areas.
By KATIE MANSFIELD
Express.co.uk
Thu, Feb 2, 2017
Austria’s coalition government announced the ban on the burka and niqab in public spaces such as courts and schools on Monday in a bid to counter the rise of the far-right Freedom Party, whose candidate nearly won last month’s presidential vote.
The ruling Social Democratic party (SPÖ) and the centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) is also considering a more general ban on civil servants wearing religious symbols.
The agreement said: “We believe in an open society that is also based on open communication. Full-body veils in public spaces stand against that and will therefore be prohibited.”
The term used would apply to the Muslim burka and niqab, which cover all or most of the face. It was not immediately clear whether the ban would include other non-Muslim garments.
Austria, a predominantly Catholic country, is home to around 600,000 Muslims in a total population of about 8.7million.
ÖVP Secretary Harald Mahrer said: “We are 100 per cent united in the federal government that Austria is a liberal constitutional state of the West and a Western-oriented democracy, and in the presence of the state authority the wearing of religious symbols can be against a certain principle of neutrality”.
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