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: โIn 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.โ
Hope the #burqaban doesn't lead to the unnecessary harassment of Muslim women who choose to cover their head. Hope govt makes it very clear and educates the racists what exactly they are banning. Banning is one thing, educating the public another. #SriLanka #lkabansburqa
— Jamila Husain (@Jamz5251) March 13, 2021
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 โat a time when the Muslim community has been constantly targeted. Itโs part of the Islamophobic reaction in Sri Lanka.”
Following this situation, people in India have started demanding a burqa ban now.
Then- France
Now- Sri Lanka
Next-Ab India Maange Aazadi!
Burqe Se Aazadi!— Hiอฅแดaอฃnอซshu (@_hp_4u) March 15, 2021
— Bimit (@Bimit23) March 15, 2021
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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