Civil court issues dress code, gets a dressing-down

A circular issued by the City Civil Court asking its employees to turn up in “decent” dress has triggered a massive backlash, with women’s groups tearing apart the attire guide.

The court urged its male employees to come dressed in pyjama, kurta or shirt and trousers, and women in “decent” saree or chudidar, citing a similar order issued by the Secretariat in 2013.

The Karnataka chapter of Akhil Bharata Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane demanded that the order be withdrawn with immediate effect.

It sought to expose the myths about ‘traditional’ attire, saying sarees and dupattas cause accidents and are not suited for modern means of transport.

The latest circular by the City Civil Court, urging all its employees to turn up for work in ‘decent’ dress, has led to a bitter backlash by the women’s groups and triggered a debate on the definition of ‘descent dress’.

While the circular on the dress code suggested the traditional sari and chudidar (churidar) as ‘descent’ dress, the women groups, while hitting out strongly, listed accidents caused due to such dresses and ‘exposed’ myths about sari as traditional attire.

On Monday, the City Civil Court issued a circular to all its employees citing a similar order by the state secretariat issued in 2013 and urged the male employees to be dressed in Pyjama, Kurta or shirt and trousers and the female employees in a ‘descent’ sari or chudidar. The circular also reminded the employees about such orders earlier and directed them to abide by the original dress code order.

Reacting strongly to the circular, the Karnataka chapter of the Akhil Bharata Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane demanded that the order be withdrawn with immediate effect.

Referring to the Constitution, the organisation argued that dress, food and worship are left to individuals’ choice and they can choose anything according to their wish.

Pointing at suggested examples of the dress, Gowramma, general secretary of the organisation said, “This is the height of gender discrimination. If men are comfortable wearing such dresses, how could they consider women to be comfortable in those suggested dresses?” She also lamented that the officials have failed to take note of problems faced by wearing these dresses.

“Just because of the sari folds and chudidar wales, hundreds of women riding two- and three-wheelers have met with accidents. Some have even died after falling from escalators when their saris stuck in elevators. Sadly, many (people) have a myth that sari is a decent dress. There is no glamorous dress other than a sari as it exposes certain parts of the body. Yet, it is considered a decent dress because of the viewers’ perception. Both decent and indecent are psychological factors and not exactly manifested in dresses. It is impossible for women, especially in a stressful environment of Bengaluru, to wear such traditional attires and commute in modern means of transportation,” the organisation said.