Sri Lanka's banning the wearing of burqas and closing of hundreds of Islamic schools has been criticized as a "racist agenda."
The ban on burqas and the closing of Islamic schools were to protect the country from "religious extremism," officials said. Schools that don't follow the national education policies will also be shut.
Many Sri Lankans don't approve of the laws and said they would cause division.
"This is a racist agenda. They are trying to convince the Buddhists that they are going after Muslims," the vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka Hilmy Ahamed said.
Around 75% of the country's 22 million people are Sinhalese Buddhists while 9% are Muslim. Around 15% are Hindus.
Sri Lanka's Minister for Public Security Sarath Weerasekera said the wearing of burqas had a direct effect on national security. He said it was a sign of "religious extremism."
It has been almost two years since an attack by Muslims killed 269 people. Two groups with ties to the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on three hotels and three churches.
Sri Lanka attempted to ban burqas following the 2019 bombings. The move drew mixed reactions from the public and women's rights groups. Several activists complained the ban was a violation of Muslim women's rights and their right to practice their religion.
"After the Easter Sunday attacks when the burqa was temporarily banned, Muslim women even covering their face or head with a shawl were abused or threatened...So there needs to be proper awareness before this is made law," women's rights activists said.
