Sri Lanka s executive presidency must end for progress on other matters leader of the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samgi Jana Balawegaya said Sunday after meeting a lawyers group.
Sri Lankan government detains Muslim parliamentarian and bans burqa
Sri Lankan police announced on Tuesday that they were extending the detention of Muslim MP Rishad Bathiudeen and his younger brother Riyaj Bathiudeen for 90 more days under the country’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The men were arrested on April 24 under the draconian law.
President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s cabinet also decided on Tuesday to ban the burqa and the niqab, traditional attire worn by some Muslim women.
Rishad Bathiudeen (Source: Twitter/rbathiudeen)
Both actions constitute an intensification of anti-Muslim communalism by the Rajapakse government and its racist allies, amid an increasing social and political crisis accelerated by the global pandemic.