Full face coverings, including the burqa and niqab, are to be banned from tomorrow in Sri Lanka.
The president announced the new regulations today invoking emergency powers.
The move has been supported by the UNP leader and prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who issued a statement rejecting reports he had opposed it as false.
The leader of the right ring Buddhist monk party, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Champika Ranawaka on Friday put forward a 10 point proposal of hardline changes purported to defeat Islamic radicalization, which included banning the niqab and burqa, as well as banning immediate deportation of foreign Islamic teachers, Batticaloa university being brought under the Ministry of Education, and the scrutiny of Muslim places of worship by the state security units.
Suicide bombings by Islamist extremists linked to Islamic State on Easter Sunday killed over 250 people after attackers targetted luxury hotels and churches.
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