The Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara stated that he signed the order banning the burqa yesterday.
The Minister further said that in the past, a group of religious extremists had introduced the tradition of wearing the burqa and that Muslim women had never worn such a burqa before.
He also stated that there are over a thousand unregistered Madrasa schools in the country and steps will be taken to close them in future due to their lack of proper regulation.
The Minister further emphasized that every child between the ages of 5-16 should be educated according to the national education system