The British Muslim Forum condemns in the strongest terms the Swiss ban on the building of new minarets.

“To use the anti-foreigner scare-mongering to ban an architectural structure that is associated with one religion only is clearly racist and Islamophobic”, said Dr Waqar Azmi OBE of the British Muslim Forum.

And the people who manipulated the democratic vote to promote this racism and Islamophobia are no different to Hitler and the Nazis who targeted one particular religion by murdering millions of Jews.

Only recently a Muslim woman, Marwa al-Sherbini was stabbed to death in a Dresden courtroom by an anti-Muslim extremist. Such hate fuelled through the democratic vote will do no good for social harmony or interfaith relations”.

We call upon our Government to protest to the Swiss Government under their international human rights obligations against the manipulation of the democratic process to promote racism, Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims.
 
We also call upon our friends from different faiths to show solidarity both here as well as in Europe and play their part in eliminating racism, Islamophobia and attacks against Muslims and help promote social harmony”, he said.

The British Muslim Forum condemns in the strongest terms the recent attempt by a small fringe group of extremists in Luton to intimidate Baroness Sayeeda Warsi on the basis of her being a Muslim engaged in the UK’s democratic political process.

“As British citizens we are proud of the rights that our society gives us to free speech and peaceable protest – it is therefore essential that these rights are not abused by a small fringe group which in no way represents the vast majority of British Muslims” said Dr Waqar Azmi OBE of the British Muslim Forum.