After Mistry's book, Sena seeks a ban on burqa

"If the burqa is to be used to steal children, then we demand that it be banned as per law," an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna said.

The demand is in reference to reports about a burqa-clad woman stealing a two-month-old child from a municipal hospital in Mumbai recently.

Referring to France risking the wrath of the Islamic world by banning burqas and other full-body robes, the editorial said French President Nicholas Sarkozy had taken a 'revolutionary step' to ban the burqa.

"When burqa was banned in Turkey by Kemal Pasha, Islam did not come in between. Why is it so only in India," it said.

Indian-born Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry on Monday voiced dismay over the Mumbai University providing "deluxe service via express delivery" in quickly dropping his Booker Prize nominated book Such A Long Journey from the college syllabus following a demand by the Shiv Sena.

"A political party demanded change in syllabus and the Mumbai University provided deluxe service via express delivery, making the book disappear the very next day," Mistry, who is based in Canada, has said.