streets yes please do that but when you do that please ensure that you have physical distance with everybody else we want to ensure the safety while you're enjoying the limpy torch relay there's plenty more video along with the latest news analysis and sports at the website take a look and al-jazeera dot com. it is good to have he with us hello adrian finnegan here in doha the headlines on al-jazeera the u.s. secretary of state has used his 1st overseas trip to take a hard stand against china and blinken says that washington is prepared to push back against beijing's growing influence in the region i know japan shares our concerns with china's destabilizing actions and as i have said before china is a placing challenge for the department of defense and we know that competing in

today's shifting global dynamics can only be done through the spirit of teamwork and cooperation north korea has taken note of the visits with a warning to the u.s. kim jong the sister of leader kim jong un and says washington to refrain from doing anything quote unseemly if it wants to sleep in peace in the coming 4 years in yemen local sources say that hundreds of protesters have stormed the presidential palace and 8 they gathered at the palace without being resisted by forces loyal to the southern transitional council there's anger over the u.n. backed government's policies and the deteriorating economic situation. the coming hours to live libya's newly sworn in unity government will officially take office the u.n. backed effort is meant to help bring stability ahead of elections in december. the european medicines agency is meeting now to analyze the safety of the astra zeneca

covert 19 vaccine germany france and italy of joined several other nations in suspending use of the jab citing concern about a few cases of blood clots developing among people who've got the shot safety experts with the world health organization and also a meeting on tuesday to look at the astra zeneca data in myanmar but arbor of people killed by security forces during anti kook protests has risen sharply this week the un says that at least 149 people have now died since the military joint seized power in february bank employees across india have called for a 2 day strike to condemn the government's decision to privatized public sector banks some services were affected the sense of thousands protested against the plan the strike was called by the united form of bank unions an umbrella organization representing 9 banking union its money is here here on al-jazeera after inside story next.

the lankan government calls it the radicalization it's detaining those with what it says extreme religious views and banning the burka but muslims say it's discrimination so will the new rules stop so-called islamic extremism in this asian country this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program today with me many from sri lanka's minority muslim community say they are being targeted and in the latest decision affecting

them the government is reintroducing a ban on burkas it says the full face covering for women is a sign of what it calls religious extremism and is barring them on national security grounds more than $1000.00 muslim schools accused of flouting national education policy will also be shot the move comes nearly 2 years after a series of attacks on hotels and churches on easter sunday more than 250 people were killed in the assaults by armed groups in 2019 now let's have a listen to what the minister had to say. it affects our national security directly in our early days muslim women and girls never want a burka it is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently we are definitely going to ban it also they are more than 2000 madrassas schools in the country nobody can open a school and teach whatever you want to the children from ages 5 to 6 all children

must study in accordance with the national education policy. well the decision to ban the burka follows an order last year mandating that victims of qubit 19 should only be cremated the practice is prohibited by muslims who bury that the ban on burials was lifted in february after months approach and spent muslim and human rights groups separately the government said it would use a controversial anti terror a law to deal with religious violence in elfin and has been following the story here's a report from colombo. the government's latest move he's being sort of reacted to concern among the muslim community now obviously this doesn't affect all muslim women in sri lanka not all of them where the book but the community in itself feel that this is a novel sort of a with way of discrimination by the government against the muslim minority now the government for its part says that this is to ensure national security and that this

sort of new rule is needed but obviously from what we have seen in the recent past in terms of policies and in general sort of treatment of the muslim community there is concern particularly when you look at a new rule brought in under the prevention of terrorism act that essentially allows a person to be held for up to 2 years of for the purposes of what the government calls rehab elite ation and this would be for people holding sort of extreme violent religious ideologies and now these are reasons that people are beginning to question sort of the timing of this we've just come at the end of one controversy where the government for a long period of time with the covert 19 pandemic did not allow the burial of covert 19 victims and this directly affected the muslim and catholic communities obviously the muslim community had

a lot of issues with this had been struggling for. all this right and finally coincidentally as the u.n. human rights council sessions in geneva took place at the government conceded and allowed the burial of over 1000 victims so while on the one hand giving the muslims back their burial rights on this hand seems to be taking away the right of muslim women to wear the burka. ok there we are here we go let's get going and before we talk to our guests all of whom are in colombo today for inside story just a quick word of i guess housekeeping more than anything else we have tried all day to get representation from the sri lankan government as of now nobody was available to talk to us here on al-jazeera so let's get to those guests they are of hakim leader of the strength of muslim congress a member of parliament and formerly a minister of justice shereen also wrote a peace activist and co-founder of the women's action network also jan pereira

executive director of the national peace council of sri lanka welcome to you all or of hakim as a former minister of justice coming to you 1st this is being done we're told on national security grounds what does that mean. no this is certainly an already action the only sure which i'm necessarily has been. brought in to. stigmatize the muslim community. or on the been done by a small again which unfortunately been the perpetrators of the easter sunday attacks but this agenda has been there for a long time ever since the conclusion of the war the conclusion of the rock rock and roll. sense of trance and ism among the single majority and

government of the time. felt it necessary to create an additive. to make the muslims the next any means so that they can. keep the. mobilization of the seat of the majority in their favor and this is nothing but an effect afoot to try and demand nice and stigmatize. hapless community which is now all. getting my dinner lays bare by the way but all of that is just. policy decisions and this is one such a good thing. part of the narrative here seems to come down to a stance on the part of the government and they say look muslim women never used to wear wear the burka anyway so what's the problem if we insist but it's to be

banned. to begin with there is no clear cut definition of what they are trying to ban because some people are saying it's niqab some people are saying it's burka arsal it's various forms of face covering body covered in social issue always the community here is that in my estimation one percent of the muslim be men but still be army come and after the easter sunday attack lots of women on their own and remolded because then also on the mountains you regulation they brought in not only fear spirit and there was a circulation by public administration 2nd actually to even remove the he job so our fear 'd is what they are trying to ban and i did time there everybody is that envious mask uncovered in their face if it is national security it's for everybody to identify i mean there is no identification whatsoever the right now and what is

it all about we men oh muslim be men's attire being connected to it stream is amen them being demonized as uncivil hakim's that jan pereiro from the national peace council also in colombo also raises a very valid point that doesn't she because is the government and it would be nice if somebody from the government was here they are not they've declined our invitation are they cynically going into a gray area because seems to me that most people outside of the muslim world indeed most people perhaps even in the broader muslim world world they don't know the difference between the the the niqab and the burka anyway. yes. you can't say that this child has to not eat cake and i think that's the reason why the government representatives do not want to come because. what is

there on the table now is a proposal signed by upon by a minister the minister of national security and but it has not been yet accepted by the time you know he does well we still. i think the government is aware that this is a very controversial matter and and they have not come to a conclusion at all and the decision is not too bad and that they were caught and also to close down 1000. just on this lord's on the grounds that they are not very good natured they have not reduced with their ministry split they can austin to register and support like them but i don't think there should be chosen that but as it's just a man's sherry trainset. doesn't that the issue of nationalism. this government is a government that was elected on the basis so it's

a majority of national and single use nationalism as well as that that is not to protect national security any game and government was elected in the aftermath of the easter bunny's which would bite muslims though as was pointed out by mr hakim this group of muslims who planned this action many of them but very educated young people and educated abroad in certain countries and who had no real or any links to run. you cannot blame the muslim community for that but that is what is happening that is in fact and that's the injustice of what has happened because traditionally the sri lankan muslim sect you know an extremely peaceful community and they have never. and there will be tense in the 30 year war between the sri lankan students and their and let some of the rebels so you don't try to that there is no real

history of the muslims being terrorists are meanwhile and and it has needed yes even after that ok last it is east. noise muslim a russian so it is really unfair that government should be targeting the muslims in this. rough came again coming back to a former minister of justice i guess if we could ask the government and we're heading towards the 2 year anniversary of the easter attacks in the run up to that time which presumably there will be more tension almost palpably in the air as people remember what happened 2 years ago i guess the government might admit we had to make the entire country feel safer that was why we brought the ban in almost 2 years ago but how does it make the country even the majority buddhist population feel safer now if they introduce this ban going forward.

but the government attempts to carry on continents relentless propaganda through the. media organizations both government media has been left by the media to create one full big fear psychosis this being the. man brought in through all and now with the us to fund their acts. presidential commission report out we can see they all each by the commission also going into such controversial controversial topics banning this that the other in order to appease the majority sent the money that has been created by a very little planning the media strategy of the government and this is what the 1000000 fortunate one who did it but they don't realize who has the on said. the.

so called. group of people who asked me to list minutes crime appears to me as college which has been the making all. of certain intelligence operations to demonize the muslims in fact the most in the again the catholics we had absolutely no in misty with any religious communities so much so the catholics themselves then these other 2 communities which watered all reliving the against this legitimacy in the regime change. by years ago ok and that was perhaps the reason why such a. broad was designed and executed ok i'd like to get into the political maneuverings surrounding this in a couple of minutes if we may stream abdul so to the columbia because that today on

his website is. this as being a racist agenda however if we look around the world france belgium austria and italy just 4 countries that have either in acted this kind of legislation or i think the italian government about 4 or 5 years ago had it drafted didn't carry through on it in europe it seems as if it's a much more nuanced debate that everyone gets a chance to engage with and the governments of the day react accordingly if that supposition on my part is right what does it tell us about the sri lankan government that they are not prepared to do the same thing. so. as i point in the previous day or so the muslim community of days to attack we have been looking in what and we have been trying to look at what went wrong within the community so she learned the government should have had consulted with muslim women because oftentimes it's men who would defy not just or even for women do they are

any job or. you know niqab mido and more now muslim men to tell us what we should know be to decide what we have to wear it's about our dignity and our body and i've just bought so in that context the sri lankan government should have had consolidation with women who did let me. be a man and they are content and also to tell them because it is psychological feeling of all of a sudden removing something you have been batting since your teenage. age for you do remotely it's like you believe the men feel that their neck that so is that that's that's the concept of the knowledge as modesty and piety and all those so that conversation never happened and also the way she loved us should not borrow or burden examples from other countries i mean our logistic country our constitution talks about. diversity in multi community and we have our go 10

talks of modernity just freedom i go to have talks about inequality before a lot so with all those things she learned that government is of the belief they are conserving this community and and it's continuously directing the muslim community because this is but the rights that they gave us a few weeks ago our backyard right that unfairly they took it away from us using pauline and that of the justice minister who is also muslim joy need god will be taken over it what what what is the government doing i mean by but doing the right seat in the country and that also they will they have to get the muslim women's right nick. as all of those men will know him says i never there more any car bottle job or will call whatever there are men so in that context and why i have everything i think he meant this is the question that young man can pereira from the national peace council the sri lankan government is also reportedly closing up

2000 muslim schools presumably that decision making process came after a period of scrutiny where government inspectors education inspectors were going into the schools and saying no you are in breach of national education policy do we know if similar christian schools were subjected to not dissimilar scrutiny on the part of the authorities and no we have not heard that and of course the justification for that would be that christians are currently not a security threat letters the most sense. because of what's happened in an easter sunday. but i think that that is not that is not fair at all this should come out density what actually doubts finding its debts finding something that is being taught at the moment starts you know must come out and so that and also that most of the money that's the law also exists the government i think the ones that let it

go down now and that have not yet reduced it to be honest. ruffo keim is mr rajapakse to go back to the political dynamic that you were talking to us about a little earlier is mr rajapaksa here kind of riding a wave if you will of identifying a minority implicitly pointing a finger of suspicion at that minority even though that minority have done nothing wrong and that's a that's a journal of record that's a matter of of journalistic fact that the muslim minority have done nothing wrong in the country because the president 2 years ago talked about the burka as being quote the flag of fundamentalism didn't describe it as an item of clothing talked about it in very loaded terminology. indeed the list has been the knot and given that they have said all through all you know order to mobilize

the city in the majority in favor and you know playing such cheap politics has been. that the brand and. its class affluent but then some to dig into that when you talk about the. schools i mean the skills to produce. strong evidence to suggest they are only talking about this hobby ideology and then the ideas of the. creams that. the. the. play must. coexistence in the country and then they are yet to produce strong evidence from the i think to life says that's being fought in the mother i mean i've been effective or to be nice.

knowles touch devious and. then did a. confidence in the kind of mother taught me that. you know a teaching really just because with all my the system is limited your system that i've been practiced or look at in the past but that is the disproportionate pension being paid to muslim schools on the prefix also trying to be. true in group c. lucas has got a good luck but me the community it says is quite capable of say the signal is the only really just new section of schools which me had been doing and we used to fund the fact that they could afford us as the need ok was seated in front of fiction within the community and we have you know doing that so that the money these madrasas interstate relation. i'm not going to interrupt you there but we are we are very quickly heading towards the end the program and there are a final couple of points i want to get in. when it comes to the court of public

opinion how do your buddhist friends in the 708090 percent of the population across the country react to this because it feels as if we're talking about a government that wants to shunt a country towards being suspicious of the different to be intimidated by a minority instead of saying look we're basically a secular society and we can and we should all live in peace particularly given watch trina bill sorrell was telling us just 2 minutes ago about how people's minority rights are actually in shrine in the paperwork that constitutes sri lanka as a sovereign state. this should the sri lankan ones aren't seeing any speaker yet he sent in security in this in coming sunday that is the ancient history of time in the nation's 2000 years ago can you know colonialism 500 years and what's happening

more he sent us where india supported the tamil militants against the sri lankan state internationalization of the un state so it is seemingly very easy to make the scene that he's still in secures and east really debts it don't vary in security and so it so up to present the i think the sea monkeys in thinking that the muslims are a real threat but i've noticed that that is the most recent but come back and the mother stopped their daughter is concerned what i'm seeing on social media is a different story yes same what i'm reading is that people are saying this is today much attention some of the problems that not only very serious problems economic problems be up close to the solid thing you have very desperately asking china for lawrence to tell you about foreign exchange prices there is a call it is also very bad like it is bad in rest of the word but the economy

really bad and there's a huge shirts here corruption scam relating to the imports i think that's what people are saying this is to distract attention and also elections i mean that's going to probably show elections in your home i don't love it here is a lot minute of the program jihan i'm going to stop you there as well last 30 seconds of the program to you shereen abdul so true or if there is to be a push for a positive dialogue a constructive dialogue either surrounding this specific issue that we're talking about today the burka because that seems to be symbolic for so many people or just minority rights in the country who's going to drive that where is that going to come from is there anyone in the political world of sri lanka who is prepared to send out a message of look we're all the same let's just get on with each other. i'll be i now very tough try these particular. g.m.

has openly said that he did the state himself as he has said it's a sing the low country and he's the president all buddhists. have been on a knee bend and day so he has she only nice all on the minorities in this country as you chase and i'll be danged national policies because if you can't get a good sri lankan government even reacted to all our outcry inside going to supreme court to various human rights mechanism with regard to cremation they only listen to international community so international pressure the pressure is the only way for blood and she not guys there's a new mission against sri lankan state is coming on geneva human rights council on 26th and there are lots of muslim countries as members and then we look forward to that the solution to be passed because that resolution an operational paragraph 7 and 8 talks about minority communities and their rights because if she don't get

really need 3 guns here son and peace they want an end to the nice minorities like that life and this and this but big this particular government i don't think days we have forward we have very long dialogue i'm ok serene thank you so much thank you to our guest here on inside story the clock has beaten us i guess we're rough like eem showing up also and she had her and just to reiterate what i said at the top of the show we did our somebody from the government to join us for this contentious debate out of sri lanka nobody was available to talk to al-jazeera today you can see this program again of course via the website al jazeera dot com you can talk to us via facebook facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story or talk to us on twitter our handle at a.j. the inside story for me peter doherty and the team here in doha thanks for watching we will see you very soon for the moment of.

for afghans with ties to international organizations. this rate has never been greater. left exposed by the withdrawal of foreign troops. maybe the path to safety. in the nation makes home feel ever farther away. bill part of the viewfinder is a series on al-jazeera. al-jazeera

. every. play important or all protecting it when. ringback i'm home i had seen in doha with the top stories on al-jazeera the u.s. secretaries of state and defense of use their 1st overseas trip to reaffirm washington's commitments to its east asian allies they say washington is prepared to push back against china's growing influence in the region right mcbride has more from seoul. this high level visit is confirmation that the stage is importance in the world view of the new u.s. administration president joe biden and the mission talked to.