"Saudi Arabia does have a very strict code of conduct when it comes to women and their dressing. Personally, one may or may not agree with it, but the fact of the matter is that it is thier country and they decide whether to have those laws.When dignitaries visit thcountries, they do so as a representative of thier own country, I don’t think Saudi Arabia should expect their laws to be applicable to their guests. They shouldn’t be hard and fast about their own customs being implemented on women from outside. But, if guests want to have good diplomatic relations, there should be some kind of deference for the host’s customs and traditions. Whenever Heads of States come to India, they will always try to do something Indian, try to eat indian food, or meet indian people. This is something which is done as a matter of diplomacy. They should meet at the halfway point. That could be a better approach where customs can also be respected and diplomatic relations can also be maintained. But you don’t implement or impose your point of view on somebody who is not from your country."—Shehzad Poonawalla, Lawyer and Congress Leader

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"We have to see the holistic dimension and not the incident. For example, in our own country, the liberty of what one has to eat is being snatched by the government. As far as the Saudi Arabia is concerned, the scarf -- a kind of duppatta, which is used by 80 per cent of Muslim women – is being used as an indication of modesty. There is no doubt that Islamic debates about equality of genders, says that men and women are both equal. But, there is a difference in the approach. If men wear less cloth, it doesn’t become an issue, but if women do the same, it becomes a fuss everywhere. I personally feel, in the name of human rights, we shouldn’t deny the basic values and codes of the country that we are going to visit. If the host draws a line, that has to be respected."—Manzoor Alam, Chairman, Institute of Objective Studies

"Nobody can decide what a woman should wear and what not to wear. It is absolutely her decision to wear whatever she feels comfortable in. They are exercising their right to make their own decisions which I think is correct. I don’t know whether it is right or wrong or whether it will affect the diplomatic ties, but I am an activist and I feel that everyone should have the freedom to make their own decisions of wearing what they want to."—Noorjehan Saifia Niaz, Co-founder, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan

As told to Saleha Paatwala