Sri Lanka takes step toward banning burqas

• The government also announced a new anti-terror law on Saturday to respond to religious “extremism,” giving itself authority to detain suspects for “deradicalisation," Al Jazeera writes.
• Burqas were temporarily banned in 2019 after the bombing of churches and hotels by Islamic militants that killed more than 260 people.
• By the numbers: "Muslims make up about 9% of the 22 million people in Sri Lanka, where Buddhists account for more than 70% of the population," AP writes.

The state of play: The country's minister of public security, Sarath Weerasekara, said he signed a cabinet order on Friday to ban burqas.

• That must now get approval from the cabinet of ministers and Parliament, where the government has a two-thirds majority, per Al Jazeera.

What they're saying: "In our early days, we had a lot of Muslim friends, but Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa," Weerasekara said, according to a video obtained by AP.

• "It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We will definitely ban it."
• The other side: "It’s part of the Islamophobic reaction in Sri Lanka," Shreen Saroor, a Sri Lankan peace and women’s rights activist, told Al Jazeera.