On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was urged by an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana to ban the burqa. Following this, lyricist Javed Akhtar talked about taking a similar step against ‘ghunghat’ system practiced among the women in Rajasthan.
Akhtar stated, “If you want to bring a law banning burqa I have no objection. But before the last phase of election in Rajasthan, this government should announce a ban on the practice of ‘ghunghat’ (covering of the face by Hindu women) in that state.”
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena ordered to ban all sorts of face covers on Wednesday due to the Easter Sunday terror attack. The Saamna editorial urged PM Modi to follow the same suit and ban burqa in “national interest”.
The lyricist further added, “I feel that ‘ghunghat’ should go and the burqa should go. I will be happy. Iraq is a very orthodox Muslim country but the women there do not cover their faces. The law in Sri Lanka (now), too, forbids face cover.”
While talking about the connection between veils and terror attacks, the Saamana highlighted the burqas and beards are even banned in Muslim countries such as Turkey, where Kemal Ataturk placed a ban on veils because he suspected that veils were being used for anti-national activities.
After this editorial came out, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, distanced the party from the comments and clarified that it was not Sena’s official stand.