Muslim Student Slammed With A 5000 Dollar Fine For Refusing To Shake The Hand Of A Female Teacher

Religious practice is no excuse for not shaking the hands of a teacher, says the Swiss regional authority on Wednesday after a Muslim student refused to shake a teacher’s hand. It has become a wary matter for school’s exempting Muslim Students from touching the opposite sex.

It has now been notified that parents of students who fail to shake a teacher’s hand could now face the chance of paying up to $5000 fine. This ruling was made in the northern Swiss canton of Basel- Country by the regional education authorities.

Outrage as Muslim pupils exempt from shaking female teachers hands in Swiss district

This decision was made after two brothers were allowed at school not to shake their teachers’ hands when they argued that doing so was against their religious belief if the teacher was of an opposite sex.

They argued that their religion does not allow any physical contact with a person of the opposite sex. They went furthermore to state that hand shake with the opposite sex is only acceptable with immediate family members.

To school exempted the boys from shaking hands with any of their teachers, regardless of sex to avoid effectively allowing discrimination.

This decision made by the school without the permission of the regional authorities created an outcry across Switzerland, where hand shaking was practiced as a sign of respect for teachers.

A statement was made that a teacher has the right to demand a hand shake from students irrespective of sex. The public interest pertaining gender equality as well as integration is greater than the belief of students, authorities said.

Switzerland stops citizenship process for Muslim students’ family

The Wednesday ruling meant that the school’s rule will be lifted. If the students once again refuse to shake hands, the sanctions required by law will be applied.

Switzerland which has a population of eight million people includes an estimated 350,000 Muslims.

Similar disagreements have previously occurred with Muslim parents demanding that their daughters should not take swimming classes. This case also lead to parents being fined.

However, Muslim families have been victorious in court against schools that ban the full face veil.

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Posted by modousarr on May 27 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.