By a slim margin, citizens of Switzerland voted earlier this month (7 March) to prohibit Muslim women from wearing Islamic face coverings such as the niqab and burqa in public.
The Swiss ban follows similar restrictions on public veiling in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands, all of which have in place full or partial restrictions on the veil.
While laws against face coverings in these countries do not mention Islam or Islamic headgear by name in or...
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Nilay Saiya is assistant professor of public policy and global affairs at Nanyang Technological University and a senior fellow with the Religious Freedom Institute. He is author of the book Weapon of Peace: How Religious Liberty Combats Terrorism (Cambridge University Press, 2018).