A burqa is a garment worn by some Muslim women that covers the entire body, including the face, with gauze over the eyes.
Sarath Weerasekera, the country’s minister of public safety, signed a paper on Friday approving the cabinet to ban burkas on national security grounds.
“In our early days, Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” he told a news conference on Saturday. ‘This is a sign of religious extremism that has recently emerged. We will definitely ban it. ‘
Sri Lankan intelligence services said in the days after the attacks that they believed the suicide bombers had clear links to ISIS. The alleged mentor and main leader, Zahran Hashim, was a radical Islamic preacher known to the authorities and local Muslim community.
Later that year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, best known for crushing a decades-long uprising in the north of the country as secretary of defense, was elected president after promising action against extremism.
Rajapaksa is accused of widespread rights violations during the war, charges he denies.
Weerasekera said the government planned to ban more than 1,000 Madrassa Islamic schools which he said were in conflict with national education policy.
“No one can open a school and teach the children what you want,” he said.