The legislature of China has banned women in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang from wearing burqas, an Islamic garment that covers women’s faces, in public places.
The legislature of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has passed the law, state media reported.
Urumqi is an autonomous western region where Muslims account for almost 45 per cent of the population of Xinjiang.
According to Reuters reported, the ban on the burqa was “considered and approved” by the Urumqi parliament’s Standing Committee in December.
The Uighur minority maintained that the government’s repressive policies and controls on Islam are to blame for provoking spates of strife there.
The regional People’s Congress as saying the legislation will go into effect after being amended, quoted Xinhua, the state-run news agency.
Earlier in July 2014, the government issued warnings to students and employees not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
In August, it banned people with veils, head scarves and long beards from boarding buses in Karamay, a northwestern city in Xinjiang.