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AMID the controversial burkini issue in France, India’s tourism minister’s comments about female travelers and their attire while traveling caused much outrage on social media.
Minister Mahesh Sharma said that foreign women should not wear skirts or walk alone at night in the country’s small towns and cities “for their own safety”.
While discussing tourist security in the state of Agra, he said, “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts… Indian culture is different from the western.”
He added that all travelers will be given a dos and don’ts kit which will include safety guidelines for women.
Mahesh Sharma Ji, Instead of telling women tourists how to be safe in India, make India safer. https://t.co/4sF9IY69IN
More understandably, the tourist kit also included information on traditional clothing in smaller towns in India, some of which have communities that frown upon revealing clothing.
Criticism has brewed on social media since Sharma’s comments were made, most of which touch on the culture that blames sexual assault on a woman’s clothing or behavior.
This is not the first time Sharma has angered netizens over his comments about women. Last year, he said that going out at night is not acceptable for women in India, even if socially acceptable in other parts of the world.
Oh, so when that guy exposed himself to me in Delhi it was because of my skirt. Right. https://t.co/gH4A2TqFHQ
Since the ministry caught wind of the outrage on social media, Sharma has been furiously backpedaling his comments in an attempt to clarify his comments.
“I am a father of two daughters… I would never tell women what they should wear or not,” he told reporters.
“Such a ban is unimaginable, 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.”
The Atlantic reported that tourism in India had dropped by 25 percent following the year of the Delhi gang rape in 2012. Since then, India has tried to reform its image as a safe travel destination for women.
The post India’s tourism minister provokes ire of netizens over ‘skirt’ comment appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com