Paris police have detained Swiss-born Islamic scholar and Oxford University professor Tariq Ramadan over allegations of rape and sexual assault. Emphasizing that this was “huge news,” Twitter users rushed to recall the controversial details of the scholar’s academic career.
Some Muslim Twitter users, recalling Ramadan’s controversial defense of the practice of the stoning of women accused of adultery, wrote that his arrest was a “humiliating end” to his career. One user wrote: “Breaking: Tariq Ramadan is arrested. A humiliating end of a play boy who audaciously marketed a suck ideology and defended stoning of women.”
Some users, concerned over Ramadan’s upcoming talk for the Islamic Institute for Development & Research, put pressure on the London-based think tank to cancel it. Wrote Akeela Ahmed: “Tariq Ramadan has just been detained in Paris over allegations of sexual violence. It’s not appropriate for him to give a course on Islam to anyone. Many British Muslims are concerned about your event, we are asking you to either cancel the event or find a new speaker.”
Twitter user Muna wrote: “London university hosting Tariq Ramadan despite *multiple rape allegations* and ongoing investigation in France. Are there different rules for different kinds of sexual predators? @QMUL please explain.” Aliya Zaidi, a young feminist, argued that it was “only appropriate to cancel the lecture given the nature of the allegations and to keep students safe”.
Finally, others simply said they hope to see some justice for the alleged victims. Human rights activist Aisha Ali-Khan wrote: “Let’s just hope there is some justice for the victims soon.”
Sources
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/01/31/tariq-ramadan-accuse-de-viols-vient-detre-place-en-garde-a-vue_a_23348815/
