Uttar Pradesh: Muzaffarnagar khap panchayat bans jeans for girls, issues chilling warning

A khap panchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district has barred men from wearing shorts and women from wearing jeans as these pieces of clothing are part of 'western culture'. The Khap Panchayat stated that people should only wear traditional Indian clothes.

The panchayat, convened on March 2 in Pipalshah village under Charthawal police station, issued the diktat, warning that those found violating it will be punished and boycotted.

"We should wear our traditional clothes such as sarees, ''ghagra'' and ''salwar-kameez''," community leader and Kisan Sangh chief Thakur Puran Singh said.

Those found violating the order will be punished and boycotted from the community, PTI quoted Singh as saying.

The khap panchayat also protested the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to grant reservation to Scheduled Castes (SC) and backward classes in the upcoming panchayat polls. 

Last month, the state government issued its reservation policy through which seats will be reserved for SCs, backward classes, and women, in the upcoming panchayat polls. 

Singh said that the panchayat expressed anger over the decision, and condemned it.