Meanwhile, Sharma has clarified his statement saying that his skirt-related comment was only in reference with religious places so that that the sanctity of the holy place is maintained. “They should take a picture of the auto they are travelling in and send it to a friend as precaution”, he had said, adding that India had a different dress code for temples. Our culture is Atithi Devobhava (a guest is nearly like God to us). “I am simply concerned”, he said.
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India’s tourism minister Mahesh Sharma.
He said women tourists should also refrain from going out alone at night.
“Women had greater freedom to wear clothes of their choice in Vedic times than they have in Modi times”, Kejriwal said in a post on social media.
Foreign Office advice to women travelling in India suggests they “respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day”.
Previous year also, Sharma found himself in the middle of controversy when he had said that girls wanting a night out was “not acceptable in India”. Different countries issue advisories from time to time.
He also added that every tourist should click a photo of the number plate of the taxi or rickshaw they are getting into and send it to their respective friends.
“Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere”.
“The indications will ask the female guests not to roam or travel late nights and ask them not to wear short dresses”, he added on Saturday. “I would never tell women what they should wear and what they should not”.
Visitors at the Taj Mahal; Sharma later qualified his comments, saying it wasn’t fair to call it a dress code for tourists. A ban is unimaginable.
The minister also said that tourists should be aware of the sensitivity of Indian culture when visiting temple towns like Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan.
Congress leader Manish Tewari said that the Culture Minister of India comes out with the most “uncultured” remarks possible.
In 2015, more than 8.02 million foreign tourists arrived in India annually according to figures from the Press Information Bureau.
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“I was speaking about religious places, like temples”.
