LANKA CABINET APPROVES PROPOSAL TO BAN FACE COVERINGS IN PUBLIC PLACES

  • 27/04/2021

SriLankn  Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to ban all forms of face coverings in public places, citing a threat to national security.However, wearing face masks to combat COVID-19 is allowed.The move came weeks after Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara signed a paper in March, seeking the approval of the Cabinet to ban burqas, outer garments that cover the body and face worn by some Muslim women.

The Cabinet has decided to ban all forms of face coverings in public places, Cabinet spokesperson and information minister Keheliya Rambukwella told, without specifying burqas that ,"All forms of face covers are a threat to national security," he said.The covering of the full face will automatically include burqa and niqab.The proposal now must be approved by Parliament to become a law.Last month, Pakistan's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ambassador Saad Khattak had criticised the proposal to ban the wearing of burqas in the country, saying such 'divisive steps' in the name of security will not only hurt the sentiments of Muslims but also strengthen wider apprehensions about the fundamental human rights of minorities in the island nation.Meanwhile, Weerasekera in a Facebook post wrote that the Cabinet has approved the proposal to ban all face coverings, including the burqa.

The Buddhist-majority nation in 2019 had temporarily banned wearing of burqas under emergency regulations following the Easter Sunday attacks in which nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels, killing 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500.

Related News

Israel PM reaffirms his plan to attack Rafah with ground for ...
  • 12/03/2024
Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan jailed for 10 years
  • 30/01/2024
ICJ orders Israel to stop genocide acts in Gaza
  • 26/01/2024
Iran bomb blast: More than 100 killed
  • 03/01/2024
Russia-Ukraine war: 14 killed in Russia’s Belgorod in shelli ...
  • 30/12/2023
Russia-Ukraine war: Biggest aerial attack on Ukraine cities
  • 30/12/2023
South Africa launches genocide case against Israel at UN Cou ...
  • 30/12/2023
Pakistan PM declares prohibition on New Year festivities
  • 30/12/2023
Health Ministry of Gaza: 20,057 people dead
  • 22/12/2023
Gaza Health Ministry: Over 15,500 killed in Gaza
  • 09/12/2023
14 dead in a fire at university dormitory in Iraq
  • 08/12/2023
Mount Merapi eruption: 11 hikers dead
  • 04/12/2023