Shiv Sena did not demand for burqa ban: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Four days after demanding ban on burqa in the Shiv Sena’s party mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and executive editor of Saamana, Sanjay Raut on Sunday clarified that the demand for burqa ban was not of the Shiv Sena or party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

In his weekly column Rokh-Thok in Saamana’s Sunday edition, Mr Raut said, “Burqa ban was discussed in our country more than Sri Lanka. One thing that needs to be clarified is that Shiv Sena or party chief Uddhav Thackeray had not demanded ban on burqa. The issue was only that the Saamana had published analysis of the incidents in Sri Lanka.”

Last Wednesday, in an editorial in Saamana, the Sena had said that if the burqa was banned in Ravan’s Lanka, then why not in Ram's Ayodhya?

The editorial also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s footsteps and ban burqas and other face-veils in India considering the “threat” they pose to the nation’s security.

In the wake of recent Easter terror strikes that claimed over 250 lives, the Sri Lankan government is mulling a ban on the use of burqa by women in the country.

Commenting on this, the editorial said, “This restriction has been recommended as an emergency measure to ensure the security forces do not encounter difficulties in identifying anybody. People wearing face-masks or burqas could pose a threat to national security.”

As the editorial created a flutter and drew sharp reactions from various quarters, senior Sena leader and MLC Neelam Gorhe had said it was not the official stand of the party, which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “It could be an individual's view...it is not the official stand of Shiv Sena,” Ms Gorhe had said in a statement.

On Friday, hundreds of Muslim women protested against the Sena mouthpiece at Mumbra.

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