Minister advises foreign tourists to avoid wearing skirts

Agra - Sharma, who was in the Taj city on Sunday, said: "For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts... Indian culture is different from the western (culture)."

Union Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma on Sunday sparked controversy when he advised women foreign tourists to avoid wearing skirts and other "skimpy" clothes "for their own safety", Times of India reported on Monday.
Sharma, who was in the Taj city on Sunday, said: "For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts... Indian culture is different from the western (culture)." The minister also adviseed women tourists to refrain from going out alone at night, adding that this would be part of the advisory to be given to foreigners, according to the paper.
He also advised foreigners visiting the temple towns of Mathura and Vrindavan to keep the sensitivity of Indian culture in mind. Sharma later said: "We have not given any specific instructions regarding what they should wear or not wear. We are asking them to take precaution while going out at night. We are not trying to change anyone's preference."
The minister on Monday however, clarified that he was referring only to religious places, NDTV reported. "I was speaking about religious places. I am a father of two daughters...I would never tell women what they should wear or not. Our culture is Atithi Devobhava (the guest is almost like deity). We will never have such a ban, but it is not a crime to be cautious. Different countries issue advisories from time to time, but I never said change anyone's way of dressing," he was quoted as saying by NDTV. Meanwhile, the management of a Jain templein Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, has asked visitors to ensure that girls aged above eight years are not dressed in skimpy clothing or in jeans, capri pants, gowns, and the like when they come to the temple. Only girls and women "dressed decorously in line with Indian cultural norms with their head covered" would be granted entry into Shri Rushabh Dev temple in Chhagniram Pedhi in Kharakuan area in Ujjain district, the temple trust said. 
After 91 years, RSS changes to full pants
Over nine decades after it was founded by Kesava Rao Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will finally drop its khaki shorts and change into a new uniform comprising full-length dark khaki pants from Dassehra Day this year. A consignment of the first lot of 10,000 sets of the new uniform - comprising the regular white shirt, black cap, a black leather belt, a pair of dark brown socks and black shoes, the trademark bamboo cane - and now, including full-length dark khaki trousers - went on sale at a shop in Reshimbaug here on Monday.  

 
 
 

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