Culture minister ‘skirts’ new controversy!

Do NOT to wear short skirts while roaming around Agra city in the evenings — that’s what Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma’s had to tell female tourists in the list of dos and don’ts handed to them on their arrival in India.

In comments that have landed him in fresh controversy, Sharma has been caught on tape saying: “… Paryatako ko, jab wo airport par aate hain, unko ek welcome kit di jaa rahi hai. Ek card hai usme, usme do’s and don’ts — kya karein aur kya na karein. Jaise chhoti chhoti batein hain, humne unhe bataya ke aap chhoti jagah par raat-waat ke time akele na niklein, skirts na pahnein… Doosra humne unhe bataya ki aap jis gaadi mein baithe, us gaadi ki number plate ka photo le lein aur apne… kisi dost ko forward kar dein… (We give welcome kits to tourists when they land at the airport. The kit includes a card with do’s and don’ts such as, do not venture out alone at night in small towns, do not wear skirts; take a picture of the registration number of the vehicle you use and send it to a friend…)”

“The pamphlet also says that India is a cultural state where apparels change with respect to religious places like temples and asks the visitors to mind their dress codes,” he retorted.

However, after a journalist sought Sharma’s justification, the latter retracted or amended his view by saying that the suggestion was made with regard to visits to religious places.

Sharma, last year, had stoked controversy by saying that girls wanting a night out was not acceptable in India.

“Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere, but it is not part of Indian culture,” he had said.