india

Updated: May 02, 2019 01:07 IST

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday stoked a controversy by calling for a ban on the use of burqa in public places as it welcomed Sri Lankan government’s decision to impose a similar restriction in the wake of Easter Sunday bombings.

If such a ban can be imposed in “Ravan’s Lanka, when will it happen in Ram’s Ayodhya?” read an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana. The party also demanded the ban should be imposed in “national interest”. However, the Sena distanced itself from the matter after it sparked a row and called it a “personal opinion” [of its executive editor Sanjay Raut].

“India, especially Jammu and Kashmir, has been struck by Islamic terror. Countries such as Sri Lanka, France, Britain, New Zealand have taken tough steps, the question is, when will India do it?” the editorial said. It also claimed many Muslim women want to get rid of the tradition.

Sri Lanka banned any form of face covering after the coordinated blasts hit three churches and three luxury hotels, killing over 250 people and injuring more than 500 others.

The editorial in Saamana has drawn flak from all quarters. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the editorial. “They (Sena) should read the Supreme Court judgment where it says that the burqa is a choice. You can wear anything...because there is something called as ‘choice’, which is our fundamental right,” Owaisi said.

Maharashtra Congress said that the demand is made to “polarise” the remaining phases of Lok Sabha election. “...If security reasons are cited then even scarves and helmets should also be banned...,” Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

Following the controversy, party spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said the view expressed in editorial was not party’s stand. “...Today’s editorial has neither been discussed nor been announced by the party chief and thus it may be a personal opinion of the editor on current affairs...”