In the wake of eight blasts that shook Sri Lanka’s Colombo, the country has now officially called to ban all facial coverings, which came into effect from Monday onwards.
After possible rounds of discussion, Sri Lanka president office took a big decision by bringing this new rule in the country, refering to burqas- ‘security risk and a flag of fundamentalism’
“President Maithripala Sirisena took this decision to further support the ongoing security and help the armed forces to easily identify the identity of any wanted perpetrators,” Sri Lankan president’s office said in a press release.
Sri Lanka still remains on high alert in the aftermath of terror attack
It was earlier reported on April 23 that the Sri Lankan government is planning bring the rule into effect in consultation with the mosque authorities, the Daily Mirror reported quoting sources.
“The government, he said (source), is planning to implement the move in consultation with the mosque authorities and on Monday several ministers had spoken to President Maithripala Sirisena on the matter,” the paper reported the source as saying.
Also, it has been reported that burqa and niqab were never a part of the traditional attire of Muslim women in Sri Lanka until the Gulf War in the 1990s which saw extremist elements inducting the garb to Muslim women.
According to defence sources, a number of female accomplices of incidents in Dematagoda also escaped wearing burqas, the report said.
(With PTI inputs)