(Colombo-GNB): Sri Lanka will ban the wearing of the burqa and shut many Islamic schools; a government minister told a news conference on Saturday.
Minister for Public Security Sarath Weerasekera had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the burqa on “national security” grounds, he told a news conference on Saturday.
An outer garment that covers the entire body and the face and is worn by some Muslim women called A “burqa”.
“In our early days, Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” Minister Weerasekera said. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it.”
In 2019, after the bombing of churches and hotels by Islamic militants that killed more than 250, the wearing of the custom “Burqa” in the majority of Buddist nation was temporarily banned.
The decision of Burqa ban drew a mixed response, with activists saying the move “violated Muslim women’s right to practise their religion freely”.
The government plans to ban more than 1,000 Islamic schools that he said were flouting national education policy, Minister Weerasekera said.“Nobody can open a school and teach whatever you want to the children,” he added.
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