The Sri Lanka bombings again exposed the tenuous position of Muslims in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country with a long history of ethnic and religious strife.
Others chafed at demands by clerics, public officials and some businesses that women temporarily stop wearing the Islamic face veil, or niqab, to assist security forces in conducting identity checks. Some women said they’d been asked to remove the veils and head coverings — worn to protect modesty — before entering shops, banks and hospitals in recent days.
Police confirmed Friday that the alleged leader of the attacks, a radical preacher named Mohammed Zahran, died in the blast at Colombo’s Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the bombings. Late Friday, security forces were locked in a shootout with suspected militants in Kalmunai, an eastern coastal town about 20 miles south of Kattankudy, Zahran’s hometown. Sri Lankan news media reported that the suspects were connected to Sunday’s attacks and that multiple explosions had taken place, but there was no immediate word on casualties.
As in many countries, Sri Lankan Muslims have grown more conservative, the niqab and body-length black abayas more visible now in laid-back Colombo and other cities than they were a generation ago. “Right now, our country is under security threat, and we have a lot of people hurting,” she said. “So if the people who are hurting feel better if they see less of people wearing black [face coverings], I think we should do it.”
Some Sri Lankan women shared stories on social media of how they were treated for wearing Islamic garments in public.
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