Up to 8,000 people in the French-speaking part of Switzerland took to the streets on Tuesday evening to protest against the minaret ban.
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Voters accepted a ban on the construction of minarets in a referendum on Sunday by 57.5 per cent.
A march in Lausanne attracted up to 5,000 supporters, while a demonstration in Geneva was attended by more than 2,000 people, with smaller protests taking place in other towns.
In Lausanne the crowd marched from the cathedral to the mosque shouting “no to exclusion” and “no to discrimination”.
In front of the mosque, representatives of the Muslim community thanked the four cantons – Basel City, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel – which voted against the minaret ban. “You warmed our hearts,” they said.
The protests were organised by the Movement Against Racism with support from the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities.
Candlelit vigils of several hundred people were organised in the French-speaking towns of Fribourg, Biel, Neuchâtel and Sion.
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Defending popular rights – by limiting them?
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Much of the feedback swissinfo.ch received on the vote has focused on this aspect of the Swiss political system, which means that ordinary people have the right to shape laws. But the history of direct democracy over the past 150 years is one of slow evolution and adaptation, and the result of the minaret vote…
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High on the agenda are tighter legal measures against forced marriages and genital mutilation of women, as well as a ban on wearing the burka in public and special dispensation from swimming lessons for Muslim pupils. “Voters gave a strong signal to stop the claim to power by political Islam in Switzerland at the expense…
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Supporters of the initiative said the Swiss electorate wanted to put a brake on the Islamicisation of their country, whereas opponents were concerned about the violation of rights, not to mention an international backlash and possible boycott of Swiss products. “Forced marriages and other things like cemeteries separating the pure and impure – we don’t…
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