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Sri Lanka to ban burqa, shut many Islamic schools, minister says
Source: Reuters
APAC
MARCH 13, 2021 4:45 AM UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Sri Lanka to ban burqa, shut many Islamic schools, minister says
By Waruna Karunatilake
2 MIN READ
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will ban the wearing of the burqa and shut more than a thousand Islamic schools, a government minister said on Saturday, the latest actions affecting the country’s minority Muslim population.
Minister for public security Sarath Weerasekera told a news conference he had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the full face covering worn by some Muslim women on “national security” grounds.
“In our early days Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” he said. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it.”
The wearing of the burqa in the majority-Buddhist nation was temporarily banned in 2019 after the bombing of churches and hotels by Islamic militants that killed more than 250.
Later that year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, best known for crushing a decades-long insurgency in the north of the country as defence secretary, was elected president after promising a crackdown on extremism.
-snip-
MARCH 13, 2021 4:45 AM UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Sri Lanka to ban burqa, shut many Islamic schools, minister says
By Waruna Karunatilake
2 MIN READ
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will ban the wearing of the burqa and shut more than a thousand Islamic schools, a government minister said on Saturday, the latest actions affecting the country’s minority Muslim population.
Minister for public security Sarath Weerasekera told a news conference he had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the full face covering worn by some Muslim women on “national security” grounds.
“In our early days Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” he said. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it.”
The wearing of the burqa in the majority-Buddhist nation was temporarily banned in 2019 after the bombing of churches and hotels by Islamic militants that killed more than 250.
Later that year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, best known for crushing a decades-long insurgency in the north of the country as defence secretary, was elected president after promising a crackdown on extremism.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-islam/sri-lanka-to-ban-burqa-shut-many-islamic-schools-minister-says-idUSKBN2B508O