‘Avoid skirt’ remark part of advisory: Sharma

August 29, 2016 08:19 pm | Updated October 17, 2016 06:50 pm IST - Meerut:

Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma on Monday clarified that his “avoid skirt” remark meant for women foreign tourists came out of concern and there was “no harm in taking caution”. He also said that he was a father of two daughters and he would never tell any woman what to wear and what not to wear.

Mr. Sharma while addressing media in Agra on Sunday said that women tourists visiting India should not wear small dresses like skirts and avoid roaming around late in the night without any escort. He had also said that this was part of the advisory being given to foreign tourists as part of do's and dont's in India. His remark led to huge outrage on social media.

“I had said in the context of visiting religious places like temple. I had talked about respecting religious places like if you go to a Gurudwara you cover your head and take off your shoes before entering a temple,” he told news agency ANI.

“I did not ask anybody what to wear and what to avoid. Our country is a diverse nation. We do not ban anything. But something as part of advisory and precaution is something different. But there is no harm in being cautious because different countries issue advisories from time to time for the safety and security of their citizens and tourists but I did not say anything about what one should wear,” he said.

Before Mr. Sharma could clarify on his remark, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter and took sharp barbs at the Narendra Modi government over the statement of his tourism Minister.

“Women had greater freedom for their clothes of their choice in Vedic times than they have in Modi times,” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted on Monday.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.