TIL Desk/National/Mumbai/ Shiv Sena asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisenas footsteps and ban burqas and other face-covering garments in India considering the threat it poses to the nations security.
Referring to Sri Lankas 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. 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.
The Senas proposal, however, was immediate rejected by another NDA ally, union minister Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India, who said that burqa should not be banned. It is not right to say that all burqa wearing Muslims are terrorists, but there are people who misuse the burqa and they should be punished. There should be no such ban on burqa in India or Maharashtra. Its a part of their (Muslims) tradition,” he said.