Former Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat doubles down on jeans 'not being in our culture'

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat has doubled down on his anti-ripped jeans stance, saying that wearing them is not a part of Indian culture.

Tirath Singh Rawat, who sparked a furore last year over his criticism of women who wear ripped jeans, has said that he stands by his past statements on the subject.

"Many people had voiced support for my viewpoint. Ripped jeans are not a part of our culture. Even today, I stand by my statement on ripped jeans," Rawat told Aaj Tak/India Today.

Early in 2021, Rawat had criticised young women for wearing ripped jeans and said, “Ghutne fatey dikhte hain, samaj ke beech me jaati ho, bachhey saath me hain, kya sanskar dogi?”

The then-CM, talking about a woman, said she runs an NGO, goes out in society and has two children and so he wondered what values she would give them, considering the fact that she dons ripped denims.

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.

At the time, Uttarakhand Congress chief Pritam Singh termed 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 Rawat over his “distasteful” remarks.