{"id":48141,"date":"2016-08-30T03:31:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T07:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48141"},"modified":"2016-08-30T03:31:05","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T07:31:05","slug":"national-security-council-meeting-leaks-to-the-media-likely-to-have-originated-from-newly-strengthened-media-wing-of-powerful-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48141","title":{"rendered":"National Security Council Meeting “leaks” to the Media Likely to Have Originated from Newly Strengthened Media Wing of Powerful Minister."},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rathindra Kuruwita<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was reported last week that a senior intelligence official, himself a Muslim from what I have gathered, has requested the National Security Council (NSC) to consider banning Sri Lankan Muslim women of wearing burqa or niqab. The proposal was squashed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ceylon Today on Sunday reported that the President is to inform diplomats from Islamic countries that such a decision will not be taken.<\/p>\n

The niqab covers the face only, showing the eyes, while the burqa covers the entire body, including the face. These garments are significantly different from the hijab, which only covers the hair and the neck and the khimar, which covers the head, neck and shoulders of the wearer, which were worn by Sri Lankan Muslim women, traditionally. This change of attire of women has created unease among the Sinhala and Tamil communities who see this as a sign of growing influence of Arabic traditions, meaning wahabism, and the refusal to integrate by the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

However, the niqab and the burqa, although we are seeing a lot more of these compared to 10 years ago, remain relatively fringe at the moment, even in Muslim countries. In a 2014 survey of men and women in seven Muslim-majority countries, the Afghan burqa was the preferred form of woman’s dress for 11% of respondents in Saudi Arabia, 4% in Iraq, 3% in Pakistan, 2% in Lebanon, and 1% or less in Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey. The niqab face veil was the preferred option for 63% of respondents in Saudi Arabia, 32% in Pakistan, 9% in Egypt, 8% in Iraq, and 2% or less in Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey. And because women often wear what men find acceptable, it is reasonable to believe that the number of women wearing these garments is somewhat reflective of the above numbers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

P.S., don’t send me hate mail, you angry feminists. I didn’t make these rules and I certainly did not invent patriarchy. Plus I get a lot of hate mail already and I don’t read them.
\nWho has banned the burqa?<\/p>\n

In recent years a number of countries, mostly European but also some Muslim nations plagued with terror attacks, have completely or partially banned women from wearing the burqa or the niqab in public. First let’s look at the usual suspects, the white folks that are freaking out. France was the first country in Europe to ban Islamic face veils in public places with effect from April 2011. Women can be fined for wearing a face veil, while anyone who uses threats and violence to forces a woman to wear a veil risks a \u20ac30,000 fine and a year in prison. Belgium was the second European country after France to introduce a ban on full face veils, with effect from July 2011, in public areas.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Dutch Cabinet in 2015 approved plans for a partial ban of the full face Islamic veil in government buildings, schools, hospitals and on public transport. While the ban does not completely outlaw wearing the veil in public, forbids it in “specific situations where it is essential for people to be seen” or for security reasons. The majority of the electorate in the Swiss region of Ticino voted in favour of a ban on face veils in public areas in 2013 and the ban came into force in 2016.Finally Lombardy, the wealthiest region in Italy, approved a ban on women wearing the burka in hospitals and local government buildings in December 2015.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Egypt and Chad, which are majority Muslim countries, have also taken steps to ban the burqa and niqab or are planning to ban them in public spaces. Egyptian lawmakers drafted a Bill in March this year to ban the burqa in public places. This followed the decision taken by the Cairo University to ban its staff from wearing niqab in classrooms to make it easier to communicate with students. Meanwhile, Chad has banned people from wearing the full-face veil, following two suicide bomb attacks on June 2015. The Prime Minister of Chad, Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet, said the veil was used as a ‘camouflage’ by militants and said the security forces will burn all full-face veils sold in markets. He told religious leaders that the ban applied everywhere, not only public places. There are also similar bans, in parts of Cameroon and Niger as well as Congo-Brazzaville and the Gabon, but really who the hell cares about those African hellholes?<\/p>\n


\nWeakening intelligence arms<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I trust Ranil Wickremesinghe with national security as much as I am comfortable leaving my sister with Bill Clinton, the decision to not go ahead with a burqa ban seems like the smarter move, at this point. While it is undeniable that a segment of Sri Lankan Muslims are indeed influenced by a strain of Islam, unfamiliar to Asia, and that banning the burqa and niqab will address short term security concerns, doing so without a proper political and social strategy to address these wahabist influences would be disastrous.<\/p>\n

For one, women from the most traditional Muslim families will lose more agency as their ability to move around, to shop, to study or access services, as the family members will even be more restrictive, which will increase their alienation from the mainstream. Moreover, this will lead to more anger, resentment, fear and further insecurity of a community who already feel under threat and can increase radicalization.<\/p>\n


\nThe two news stories that I have mentioned served two purposes. The tone of the articles made the intelligence official who made this proposal look bad and made Wickremesinghe and Sirisena look like defenders of freedoms and minority rights. It is also said that Sirisena wants to know who leaked the story, which is ironic because it’s very likely that both stories ‘originated’ from the newly strengthened media wing of an extremely powerful politician; your tax rupees at work folks.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Intelligence and security officials put forward suggestions on what they feel are imminent security threats and it is not surprising that an intelligence official came up with this suggestion as it’s almost impossible to verify the identity of a person wearing a burqa or a niqab. Of course one of the solutions is to ensure that there are female Police\/Military Officers to examine the wearers, but given the low number of Policewomen in Sri Lanka this is not practicable.<\/p>\n

The responsibility of a military or an intelligence service official is to flag security concerns and suggest solutions, not all these are implemented, in the belief that what he suggests will remain confidential. But clearly that is no longer the case. Last week I wrote about the gradual disintegration of our intelligence arms since 2010 and this leak and the subsequent naming and shaming of the ‘controversial’ official will be another nail in the coffin.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Ceylon Today<\/em><\/p>\n

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by Rathindra Kuruwita It was reported last week that a senior intelligence official, himself a Muslim from what I have gathered, has requested the National Security Council (NSC) to consider banning Sri Lankan Muslim women of wearing burqa or niqab. The proposal was squashed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ceylon Today on Sunday reported …<\/p>\n

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