(Local) One of the key figures behind a successful campaign to have burqas banned in the Swiss canton of Ticino now wants Muslims banned from praying in public.
The move by political maverick Giorgio Ghiringhelli comes in the wake of a number of social media posts in the Italian-speaking canton showing photos of Muslims praying in the street and referring to the region as “Ticinistan.”
Ghiringhelli, who refers to himself as “il Guastafeste” (“the killjoy” or “the spoilsport”), has now petitioned the cantonal parliament to make such public prayers illegal.
He argues the ban is necessary as there is a passage in the Muslim prayers which contains an implicit message of hatred against Jews and Christians — an idea based on the work of Sami Aldeeb, a Palestinian-Christian lawyer with Swiss citizenship.
