Sri Lanka to ban burkas, shut over 1,000 Islamic schools for ‘national security’

Sri Lanka will ban the wearing of the burka and shut more than a thousand Islamic schools, a government minister said on Saturday, the latest actions affecting the country’s minority Muslim population.Minister for Public Security Sarath Weerasekera told a news conference he had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the full face covering worn by some Muslim women on “national security” grounds.“In our early days Muslim women and girls never wore the burka,” he said. “It is a sign…