Sri Lankan Parliamentary Panel On National Security Proposes Immediate Ban On Burqa

A Sri Lankan Parliament committee on national security has proposed the immediate ban on the burqa and also suspend registration of political parties on ethnic and religious basis, the media reported.

The proposals featured in a special report presented to Parliament on Thursday (20 February) to resolve 14 controversial issues following the April 2019 Easter Attack, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

The report was tabled by MP Malith Jayatilaka, the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security.

The report states that a number of countries have already banned the burqa and suggested that the police should have the power to request anyone wearing a face covering in a public place to take it off in order to establish the person''s identity.

If such a request was not complied with, the police should have the power to arrest the individual without a warrant, the report added.

It also recommended the island nation''s Election Commission to enact a legislation to suspend the registration of political parties on ethnic and religious basis.

The report further said that the registration of political parties which have some racial or religious conflict or in its name should also prohibited, the Daily Mirror reported.

Such a party should be converted into a political or non-religious political party within a specified period of time, it added.

Another proposal in the report said that all students studying in madrasas should be absorbed into the normal school system under the Ministry of Education within three years.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)