Turin: anger as Muslim rugs taken from city hall
The Local Italy - [email protected]
Published: 29 Jul, 2015 CET.
Updated: Wed 29 Jul 2015 08:27 CET
Two councillors from Italy's far-right Northern League provoked outrage on Tuesday after removing prayer mats that had been placed in Turin's city hall for a Muslim conference.
Roberto Carbonero and Fabrizio Ricca removed the rugs from a Muslim prayer room that had been created especially for a conference on Islamic fashion.
The pair insisted that the decision to remove the rugs was not down to prejudice or racism, but was because the city hall is a secular building.
"If someone wants to pray, there are lots of religious centers they can go to," La Stampa reported the councillors as saying.
"It's not as if people build a chapel whenever there's a Christian conference."
Their actions were met with widespread criticism. Michele Paolino, the local leader of the Democratic Party, called it "an arbitrary and violent act," adding that "these actions offend people of all religions."
Comments
See Also
Roberto Carbonero and Fabrizio Ricca removed the rugs from a Muslim prayer room that had been created especially for a conference on Islamic fashion.
The pair insisted that the decision to remove the rugs was not down to prejudice or racism, but was because the city hall is a secular building.
"If someone wants to pray, there are lots of religious centers they can go to," La Stampa reported the councillors as saying.
"It's not as if people build a chapel whenever there's a Christian conference."
Their actions were met with widespread criticism. Michele Paolino, the local leader of the Democratic Party, called it "an arbitrary and violent act," adding that "these actions offend people of all religions."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.