Sri Lanka to ban burqa, shut many Islamic colleges: Minister Sarath Weerasekera

Sri Lanka will ban the carrying of the burqa and shut greater than a thousand Islamic colleges, a authorities minister stated on Saturday, with the newest actions set to have an effect on the nation’s minority Muslim inhabitants.
Minister for public safety Sarath Weerasekera informed a information convention he had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the full-face overlaying worn by some Muslim ladies on “national security” grounds.
“In our early days, Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” he stated. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it,” he added.
The carrying of the burqa within the majority-Buddhist nation was briefly banned in 2019 after the bombing of church buildings and lodges by Islamic militants that killed greater than 250. Later that 12 months, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, finest recognized for crushing a decades-long insurgency within the north of the nation as defence secretary, was elected president after promising a crackdown on extremism.
Rajapaksa is accused of widespread rights abuses through the warfare, that are fees he denies.
Weerasekera stated the federal government plans to ban greater than a thousand madrassa Islamic colleges, which based on him, have been flouting the nationwide schooling coverage.
“Nobody can open a school and teach whatever you want to the children,” he stated.
The authorities’s strikes on burqas and colleges comply with an order final 12 months mandating the cremation of Covid-19 victims, which is in opposition to the desires of Muslims who bury their lifeless.

This ban was lifted earlier this 12 months after criticism from the United States and worldwide rights teams.