JVP: Burqa ban aimed at diverting public attention from sugar tax scam

by Saman Indrajith

The proposed burqa ban is an attempt to divert public attention from the sugar scam, says the JVP. Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP MP Vijitha Herath said: “The government is good at creating issues. For example, when the public was angry about allowing death-row convict Premalal Jayasekera to enter Parliament, the government announced that it would ban cattle slaughter. The public lost their interest in Jayasekera and started to talk about the pros and cons of cattle slaughter.

“Now they have raised the issue of banning the burqa in the country to distract the public from the sugar scam.”

The loss caused by the sugar racket to the treasury was Rs 15.6 billion in taxes, Herath said.

It is in this context that the government has announced that action will be taken to ban burqa.

” The Minister responsible has just placed his signature on a Cabinet paper to ban the burqa. The paper has not even been submitted to the Cabinet for the approval. We think this is another attempt to divert public attention. If the government wants to make such policy decisions then it should speak to the communities and to the religious and political leaders and thereafter it could make that decision. That is the proper way.”