
New Delhi: Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali courted controversy on Saturday over his suggestions on what women should wear in schools & public in general.
Speaking to newsmen, he said that women shouldn’t wear clothes in European style and they should rather stick to Indian standards.
“Problem arises when they wear small & fewer clothes. You can wear whatever you want but don’t dress like Europeans, it can create problems. Women wearing fewer clothes create trouble, people feel relaxed if they (women) wear more clothes,” Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali told the newsmen on camera.
The Telangana Home Minister said this while reacting to the reports that some girl students in Hyderabad were directed to put off their burqa before appearing for examinations.
#WATCH | “Some Headmaster or Principal might be doing this but our policy is totally secular. People can wear whatever they want but if you wear European dress, it will not be correct…We should wear good clothes. Auratein khaas taur se, kam kapde pehn’ne se pareshaani hoti hai,… pic.twitter.com/iagCgWT1on
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2023
Eulogizing the Indian dressing, he said that female students should shun Western style of clothing and rather follow Indian pattern, be it Islamic or fellow Hindus who put ‘pallu’ on their head as this will draw respect from all.
The State home minister’s comment is likely to get condemnation from women groups for issuing a ‘diktat’ on what women should wear.
What was burqa matter that prompted state HM to react
It was an incident that took place at KV Ranga Reddy Degree College for Women in Hyderabad. Some female students of the college claimed that they were barred from entering the examination hall as they were wearing burqa.
They claimed that they were told to undress their burqa for appearing in the degree examinations in urdu language.
#WATCH | Telangana | Girl students who appeared for examination at KV Ranga Reddy College in Santosh Nagar, Hyderabad allege that they were “forced” to take off their burqa before sitting for the exam. (16.06.2023) pic.twitter.com/JHzWP1agsR
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2023
“It’s only when we removed burqa, we were allowed inside,” one of the girl students claimed.