Sri Lanka Bans Face Covering After Attacks
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday announced a ban on face covering, a week after Islamist militants carried out coordinated suicide bombings that killed 253 people.
Colombo, Apr 28 (AFP) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday announced a ban on face covering, a week after Islamist militants carried out coordinated suicide bombings that killed 253 people.
Sirisena said he was using emergency powers to ban any form of face covering in public. The restriction will take effect from Monday, his office said in a statement.
"The ban is to ensure national security... No one should obscure their faces to make identification difficult," the statement said.
It came days after local Islamic clerics urged Muslim women not to cover their faces amid fears of a backlash after the bombings carried out by jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group.
Muslims in the majority Buddhist nation account for about 10 per cent of its 21 million population.
Most Sri Lankan Muslims practise a liberal form of the religion and only a small number of women wear the niqab. (AFP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)