Last year, Persson ordered the Department of Education to carry out an enquiry on the ``denominationally, ethnically and linguistically motivated schools run in the country, from a segregational perspective''. His proposals emanate from the results of that study.

Explaining his stand, the Social Democrat (SDP) Persson says, ``I am concerned that the Muslim schools in Sweden are conducive towards creating as potential segregation in the Swedish society.''

``I am worried about schools that exist on a religious basis. That creates in me considerable anxiety, like the Muslim schools,'' he adds.

Persson further defends his intended measures, ``one separates children, sends children from certain homes (families) to certain particular schools because one belongsto a certain (religious) faith, comes from a certain part of the world, that I cannot countenance.''

Director in the Department of Education Stefan Bolin disagrees with Persson. ``The prime minister has much that is wrong,'' says Bolin, ``the children can feel a measure of security in Muslim schools, they can get a calm (peaceful) introduction into a society that has an entirely different environment and culture. In the state schools, for example, the Swedish students do not accept -- far less respect -- that the Muslim girls, for example, wear veils and are consequently mobbed and physically abused. They are labelled witches.''

Sweden had launched the Euro-Islam initiative six years ago in an effort to bridge the glaring socio-religious-cultural discrepancies between the Islamic and Western societies. Ambassador Lars Lonebach, the creator of the initiative told UNI about Persson's intended discriminatory measures. ``He intends well. His proposals are, entirely in keeping with the perspectives of theeuro-Islam movement, which is to prevent an Islamic ghetto. If the Arabs and other Muslims choose to live in Sweden or other western countries, they should seek to adapt themselves to their adopted surroundings.''

Persson's proposal has generated alarm waves among the different Muslim communities around the country. The Indo-Pakistani Muslims living in Sweden total nearly 8,000 and have full-fledged parishes in industrial and metropolitan hubs such as Trolhaten, Jonkoping and Malmoe. The largest of them at Trolhaten was gutted by right wingers in 1994.

The leaders of this and other Islamic communities, none of whom wish to be identified fearing further drastic retributions, voiced their apprehensions. Some of these deal with such unthinkable to them -day-to-day abominations as the explicit sex education that is compulsory in Swedish schools, from the earliest classes, complete with video illustrations.

Classes in Swedish state schools being mandatorily mixed, in reverence to Sexual equality, does notmake matters easier. Nor the fact that the age of consent having been brought down to 14 years, Swedish kids find it difficult to understand why their Muslim counterparts do not join them in activities that are known as sex games.

``We consider it as homework, just as that given to us in other disciplines,'' 14-year old Bertil Borg said. ``Why should they (the Muslim students) keep away? After all, we do use condoms, which are freely dispensed in school, alongwith the prevention of AIDS kit.''