Sri Lanka
Image Source: Sydney Morning Herald

After France, Sri Lanka is following suit. It will be banning Muslim women from wearing a burqa. Aside from that, they will also be shutting down more than a thousand Islamic schools. The announcements were made on Saturday by a government Minister.

Srilankan Minister announces Burqa Ban

Sarath Weerasekera, Minister for public security, brought up the conversation in a news conference that because of the burqa, the individuals have their faces covered. And it is becoming a hindrance to national security. So, to tackle this, Weerasekera signed a paper and sent it to the cabinet for approval.

The minister said: “In our early days, Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa. It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it.”

Sri Lanka and extremism 

Srilanka, the Buddhist majority nation, had banned the burqa once earlier as well. This was a follow-up to when there were church and hotel bombings in 2019. The bombings killed 250 individuals.

The news hints at further extremist policies of Sri Lanka. In the past, they had given the order of cremating the fatalities of COVID-19. This goes against the Islamic values and hurts the Muslim Srilankan’s sentiments.

Various human rights activists spoke up regarding that. In conversation with a publication, one activist, Shreen Saroor, said that these moves come “at a time when the Muslim community has been constantly targeted. It’s part of the Islamophobic reaction in Sri Lanka.”

Following this situation, people in India have started demanding a burqa ban now.

Considering the burqa is worn by Muslims, is this another nation’s way of pushing the Muslim population to only the Muslim majority countries. Is that not going to create a divide between different religions?

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