Mumbai colleges becoming Khap panchayats. How are students’ wardrobes any of your business?

NG Acharya and DK Marathe College, run by Chembur Trombay Education Society, has barred students from wearing torn jeans, T-shirts, 'revealing' dresses and jerseys.

Representational image | Pexel

Another day, another example of how clothing can be a ‘threat’.

After axing the hijab, Chembur Trombay Education Society’s NG Acharya and DK Marathe College has barred students from wearing torn jeans, T-shirts, “revealing” dresses and jerseys, or a dress that reveals religion or shows “cultural disparity”.

This is nothing but outdated authoritarianism masquerading as decency on India’s college campuses. The regressive mindset of Khap panchayats seems to have infiltrated Mumbai’s progressive educational landscape.

The country and its obsession with ‘decent’ clothing is beyond my understanding. Why do people – particularly those running educational institutions — fixate on such trivial things? Are you really that free?

This college seems super keen to follow in the footsteps of Mumbai’s catholic institutions, which are hell-bent on turning students into uniformed drones. I duly recommend that the management get a life, and give the same to their students.

Why fixate on clothes?

I wonder how attire impacts education—perhaps scientists should investigate this groundbreaking theory.

For years, clothes have been bizarrely linked to ‘character’. Now, colleges are upping the ante by connecting them to academic success. If wearing ‘decent’ clothes could solve India’s learning problem, then congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. We have found the fix to one of our biggest problems as a society.

And, who gets to decide what’s decent?

Torn jeans are indecent, but a saree isn’t? Just because a saree is cultural, it’s not revealing?

If it’s about showing skin, I’d say torn jeans expose far less than a saree does.

It’s not about discipline

This isn’t about maintaining discipline; it’s about a desperate need to control and suppress individuality. It’s as if they’re on a mission to drag us back to a time when moral policing ruled the day.

They might as well put up a sign saying, ‘Welcome to the 19th century, where your wardrobe is our business.’

The real tragedy here is the precedent being set.

By succumbing to this regressive nonsense, the college signals that personal expression and freedom of choice are less important than outdated norms and the whims of the moral police.

If such measures continue, Mumbai’s colleges risk becoming hotspots of conservatism, far removed from the progressive, inclusive society that the city claims to represent.

Deja vu moment

Maharashtra, where state elections are due this year, is taking a leaf from its neighbouring state Karnataka. Right before its assembly election in 2023, the state government had banned the use of hijab in educational institutions.

While the management insists that this isn’t an attempt to target any particular community, it’s quite a coincidence that hijabs, burkhas, niqabs, and stoles have all been banned.

Surprisingly, I didn’t come across the management calling out other religions by mentioning turbans, crucifixes or saffron scarves in its notice.

Just for saying this line, I will be termed an anti-Hindu or a pseudo-liberal.

But if certain clothing threatens your cultural or religious integrity, perhaps that integrity isn’t very strong to begin with.

Someone needs to stop these ultra-nationalist and fundamentalist uncles from dictating ‘the ideal dress code’ to young students.

If left at the mercy of ‘our culture is the best culture’ administrators, our educational institutes will lose all of their vibrancy.

Views are personal.

(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)