Sri Lanka’s government has on Wednesday reinstated a ban on women buying alcohol and being employed in places where the drinks are produced and sold.
A senior official in the country said it was in line with the country’s cultural values.
The decision came nearly a week after the finance minister revoked the 38-year-old ban.
Government spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senarathna said the Cabinet at its weekly meeting on Tuesday reinstated the ban. He said its removal violated the country’s cultural and moral values.
Read Also:
“(Alcohol) is not a requirement of women in this country. This is against our culture,” Senarathna told reporters.
He said that although alcohol is part of the social system and foods and drinks in Europe, “it is not so in Sri Lanka. Therefore, laws on alcohol are different here than there (Europe).”
The ban had been in force since 1979, the early years of Sri Lanka embracing an open market economy. Many businesses had ignored it and employed women to serve and sell alcohol.
The turnabout came two days after President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the Finance Ministry to rescind the government circular that revoked the ban, saying he was committed to building a “cultured society with values such as freedom, morality and democracy.”
