ZURICH: “Stop Extremism!” urges a red billboard in a quiet village outside Zurich carrying an image of a scowling woman wearing a black headscarf and face veil.

The billboard is part of a campaign by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to ban face coverings in public and which will be voted on in a binding national referendum on Sunday. Opinion polls suggest most Swiss will back it and the ban will become law.

“In Switzerland our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms,” said Walter Wobmann, an SVP member of parliament and chairman of the referendum committee.

Opinion polls indicate most people will support a ban

The proposal predates the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen all adults forced to don masks in many settings to prevent the spread of infection. It gathered the necessary support to trigger a referendum in 2017.

It does not mention Islam directly, and also aims to stop violent street protesters and football hooligans wearing masks. Still, local politicians, media and campaigners have dubbed it the ‘burqa ban’.

The proposal compounds Switzerland’s tense relationship with Islam after citizens voted to ban building any new minarets in 2009. Two cantons already have local bans on face coverings.

Wobmann said the vote was not against Islam itself, but added, “The facial covering is a symbol for this extreme, political Islam which has become increasingly prominent in Europe and which has no place in Switzerland.” France banned wearing a full face veil in public in 2011 and Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in public.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2021