Legislators in Urumqi city accepted a ban on women wearing burqas in the wake of numerous clashes and deadly attacks in China. Authorities in a far western Xinjiang province of China have passed a law prohibiting women from wearing burqas in public places.

The standing committee of the Urumqi parliament in Xinjiang Uighur Region "considered and approved" this law in the regional capital. Xinjiang's residents consist of mostly Turkish-speaking Uighur Muslims who have been suffering violence at the hands of Islamist militants for years and rising number of Han Chinese who have migrated from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.

"Burqas are not traditional dress for Uighur women, and wearing them in public places is banned in countries such as Belgium and France," Xinhua, China's official news agency.

About 45 percent of the residents of Xinjiang are Islamic. According to the 2010 census, 13.4 million of its nearly 22 million residents are Muslims, in Xinjiang. The region's popular belief is that the repressive measures taken by the government have prompted the recent spate of attacks in the region.

This ban closely follows another regulation banning the entry of people wearing Islamic style clothes and carrying large beards into public buses. Restrictions were also placed on students and public servants fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. These legislations are a part of the "people's war on terror" operation started in May, last year, in Beijing as a response to the market bombing in Urumqi.

Authorities insist that religious fanaticism is the source of the recent bloodshed, as a justification for the rising bans on the Islamic community. Human rights groups, on the contrary believe that the Uighurs' rights to freedom of worship are being violated and this is further encouraging radicalization of the Muslim youth.

Zhang Chunxian, Xinjiang's Communist Party chief urged authorities to "brandish the sword and advance against terrorists in a full-on approach".