Indian politician Tirat Singh Rawat said that jeans with holes in the knees are a sign of a decline in morals in the country. This phrase outraged his compatriots, and they expressed their protest by organizing a flash mob on Twitter.
Tirat Singh Rawat spoke at a seminar organized by the Uttarakhand Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child in Dehradun and in his speech criticized an unfamiliar woman he met on the plane. Rawat’s fellow traveler was wearing jeans torn at the knees, and, to his surprise, turned out to be the head of a non-profit organization.
“You support independent legal organizations and wear jeans torn at the knees! You forget that you are among people, you exist in society, you have children with you. What will you teach them?” said Rawat, who represents the ruling nationalist Hindi Bharatiya Janata party. The politician continued his accusatory monologue and admitted that he looked at the woman from top to bottom because she chose such revealing clothes.
After his speech, one of the Twitter users posted a photo of herself in torn jeans, accompanied by the caption: “Better holes in clothes than in brains.” And put the hashtag #RippedJeansTwitter. Soon this initiative was picked up by others. Using a photo in “wrong” jeans, accompanied by a hashtag, they protested against the statement of Rawat, who called such clothes “a sign of the decay of morals in the country.”
Thousands of Indian women found Rawat’s statement to be misogynistic, misogynist. They are sure that they have the right to wear whatever they want.
“Change your ideas about the world before you ask us to change clothes. The only thing to be ashamed of is your offensive comment, ”said model Navia Naveli Nanda about his speech.
Through a flash mob, activists reminded that politicians like Rawat should use their power to protect Indian women at the political level instead of criticizing their clothes.
“Violence is not happening because women wear short skirts or pants with holes at the knees, but because men like Rawat promote misogyny and neglect their true responsibilities,” said Swati Maliwal, head of Delhi’s department of women’s rights. Politician and Indira Gandhi’s granddaughter Priyanka Gandhi recalled that her male compatriots are not shy about showing their knees. She posted old photos of Indian politicians in short shorts on her page and captioned the post: “Oh my God! Their knees are visible!
Over the weekend, women belonging to the opposition Congress Party held a protest demonstration in New Delhi, holding up signs: “Don’t judge women by their clothes.” Rawat himself at first apologized for the comment, but later reiterated that wearing ripped jeans is “wrong” and that by covering holes in clothes, we demonstrate discipline and high moral values.
India is currently considered the most dangerous place for women according to a survey conducted by the Thomas Reuter Foundation in 2018. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 2019 women per day were subjected to sexual violence in 88. Women around the world never tire of reminding us that the rapist is to blame for violence, not the clothes we wear. After all, he decides to commit a crime.