Indonesian politician's anti-virus veil policy draws fire

Female civil servants, clad in veils instead of face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, conduct group morning exercises in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on July 3, 2020. An official in Lombok Island, Indonesia, has garnered criticism after he urged female civil servants to wear face veils to prevent Covid-19 spread instead of masks. - AFP

LABUIHAN LOMBOK, Indonesia, July 10 (AFP): An Indonesian politician is under fire for ordering female civil servants to wear face veils once a week in what he defended as a bid to guard against the coronavirus.

But critics said the loose covering known as the niqab did not offer sufficient protection and it was another attempt to impose conservative dress codes on women in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.