Both men and women should wear clothes that look appropriate: Surendra Singh
BJP's Bairia MLA Surendra Singh on Thursday defended Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's ripped jeans remark, saying men and women need to wear "decent clothes".
Mr Rawat had on Tuesday criticised women for wearing ripped jeans and wondered what values they will impart to their children, triggering protest from various quarters including opposition parties and celebrities.
Mr Singh, who has made controversial statements in the past, said women especially daughters are the family's "prestige" and they must behave in a dignified manner.
The basic difference between animals and humans is that a human lives in a decent manner by covering the limbs while animals remains naked, Mr Singh told reporters.
Both men and women should wear clothes that look appropriate, he said, stressing that barring children, men and women should not wear shorts outside of their homes.
To a question on Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and some women politicians and activists condemning Mr Rawat's statement, Singh said, right comments can be expected only from those who are cultured.
While participating in a debate on regulating online hate speech and improving information disclosure about paid content in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Ms Chaturvedi said instead of discussing pollution "we end up discussing women wearing ripped jeans", a reference to the remark by the Uttarakhand chief minister.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Mr Rawat said that due to a lack of values, youngsters today are following strange fashion trends and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans ripped at the knees. Women also follow such trends.
The chief minister said these days youngsters go to the market to buy ripped jeans. If they can't find one, then they cut their jeans using scissors.
In a statement, Uttarakhand Congress chief Pritam Singh termed Mr Rawat's remarks "shameful" and demanded that he apologise to women.
State Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni said it doesn't behove a chief minister to make a derogatory remark about someone's sartorial choices.
She advised the chief minister to avoid making such comments and said they can hurt the public sentiment.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also slammed Mr Rawat over his "distasteful" remarks.
On micro blogging site Twitter, #RippedJeansTwitter started trending with women from all walks of life joining the debate around ripped jeans.