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Niqab ban will hurt ordinary Muslims: Pak HC

15 Mar 2021

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, (Retd.) Maj. Gen. Muhammad Saad Khattak yesterday (15) said that the proposed move by the Government of Sri Lanka to ban the niqab will serve as an injury to the feelings of Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe. “The likely ban on the niqab in Sri Lanka will only serve as an injury to the feelings of ordinary Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe,” the Pakistani Envoy Khattak had tweeted. “In today’s economically difficult times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other image related challenges faced by the country at international fora, such divisive steps in the name of security, besides accentuating economic difficulties, will only serve as a fillip to further strengthen wider apprehensions about the fundamental human rights of minorities in the country.” The proposal to ban face veils has been presented to the Cabinet of Ministers in the form of a Cabinet paper by the Minister of Public Security (Retd.) Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekera. The Morning yesterday (15) reported exclusively, quoting Dr. Weerasekera, that the much talked about cabinet paper includes both the burqa (entire face veiled) and the niqab (the face veiled with only the eyes visible). Dr. Weerasekera said that Covid-19 masks and full-face helmets are not included as they can be removed in public upon requests made for identification and for security concerns, but that such removal of religious clothing cannot be done in public. The hijab (entire face is visible) has also been spared. Meanwhile, echoing sentiments similar to the Pakistan Envoy, the largest Parliamentary Opposition Party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) added that the proposed burqa ban would aggravate the current problems in the country. SJB MP Mujibur Rahman on 14 March said that the move to ban the burqa in Sri Lanka has begun to cause great controversy. “The Government is trying to block the democratic rights of the people. As a result, the problems are not going to go away. Rather, the problems will intensify. We do not think that the Government’s decision will reduce the problems in the country.” He also said that Minister Dr. Weerasekera’s claim that the burqa is a symbol of religious extremism cannot be accepted. “Weerasekera cannot take a decision on that. It is extremist thinking to ban a piece of clothing worn by a group of people,” he said. Sri Lanka’s proposal to ban face veils came a week after 51.2% of people of Switzerland voted in favour of banning the wearing of face covers in public, including the burqa and niqab, in a referendum. France became the first European country in 2011 to ban the wearing of the full face veil in public, which was followed by a similar ban in Belgium the same year.

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