Ban on burqa in public places demanded by Shiv Sena
প্রকাশ্যস্থানে বোরখা পরায় নিষেধাজ্ঞা চায় শিবসেনা

May 1: On Wednesday, the Shiv Sena called for a total ban on the use of burqa by women. Referring to Sri Lanka’s recent decision to issue a decree to ban burqas and other veils in light of the Easter Sunday attacks, an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana welcomed the move and demanded that it be enforced in India too.

“It has happened in Raavan’s Lanka. When will it happen in Ram’s Ayodhya? We ask this question to the PM as he is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on Wednesday,” read the editorial. Sri Lanka imposed its ban on Monday to help security forces identify people under an emergency law put in place after Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in churches and hotels killed more than 250 people.

To bolster its call for the ban, Sena also cited examples of France, Australia and Britain, where it said the governments have made face covering illegal. It had been pointed out that ‘burqa’ and ‘niqab’ were never part of the traditional attire of Muslim women in Sri Lanka until the Gulf war in the early 1990s “which saw extremist elements introducing the garb to Muslim women”. Some Muslim leaders said a ban on the burqa would be an attack on civil liberties. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs declined to comment.