adminThe Herald, March 25, 1980
BOMBAY. – Jeans and skirts have thrown about 3 000 college girls out on the streets in Madras city, South India.
The South Indian Educational Trust College for Girls, run by an orthodox Moslem Trust, refused to agree to the girls’ demands to wear jeans and skirts to college.
They insist the girls must wear sarees and the traditional burkha, a black cloak covering them from head to foot.
Two months ago the girls rebelled and in a sensational demonstration, they wore bikinis in the college compound. It is a residential college.
Later they donned tight-fitting jeans and scaled the college wall when the management sought to lock them out.
In a letter to the Vice Chancellor of Madras University, Mr Basheer Ahmed Sayeed, founder of the college said,“The farce of some classes being held on the payments is designed to create public sympathy towards teachers and students and the management is not in any way responsible for the scenario.”
The State Government, as well as the Madras University, have tried unsuccessfully to get the management to change its attitude but they have remained obdurate.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
They say, when in Rome, do what the Romans do. Whenever one is in a certain environment or place they have to follow the rules and regulations governing the area even when one does not agree with them.
When you fail to entertain or tolerate other people’s views, they tend to resort to drastic measures for their views to be heard.
Women, especially girls have their own minds and feel compelled to express themselves especially through their dressing, and if they feel that they are being oppressed they rebel.
Culture is dynamic. Church leaders need to be accommodative, especially when they are dealing with people of diverse backgrounds.
Online Reporter