Outcry in India after ripped jeans blamed for 'societal breakdown'

Thousands of women across India are sharing photographs of themselves wearing ripped jeans in protest against misogynistic views, after the chief minister of one of India's northern states blamed "societal breakdown" on distressed denim.

Speaking at a workshop, Uttarakhand's Tirath Singh Rawat criticised an unnamed woman he had met on a flight: “You run an NGO, wear jeans ripped at the knees, move about in society, children are with you, what values will you teach?”

Mr Rawat, who represents India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), caused further outrage by admitting he had looked the flight passenger “up and down” because of her clothing choice.

Thousands of Indian women took to social media in disgust at Mr Rawat’s comments by sharing photographs of themselves in their ripped jeans, arguing they had the right to wear what they want and that the politician had no right to question the morality of anyone else.

"Change your mentality before changing our clothes. Because the only thing shocking here is the message comments like this send to society," said the model Navya Naveli Nanda.

“Ripped jeans, Ripped genes,” said another, sharing a photo of a woman in torn denim alongside a photograph of the controversial right-wing Hindu paramilitary group the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has been accused of inciting religious violence and to which Mr Rawat used to belong.

Many pointed out that politicians like Mr Rawat should be using their platform to protect Indian women at a policy level, rather than criticising their clothing choices.

“Rapes happen not because women wear short clothes but because men like Tirath Singh Rawat propagate misogyny and fail to do their duty,” said Swati Maliwal, the Head of the Delhi Commission for Women.

“Ripped jeans, Ripped genes,” said another, sharing a photo of a woman in torn denim alongside a photograph of the controversial right-wing Hindu paramilitary group the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has been accused of inciting religious violence and to which Mr Rawat used to belong.

Others pointed out that men show their knees regularly, with senior party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sharing older photographs of PM Modi and one of his cabinet colleagues in shorts with the caption: “Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing.”

India was voted as the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman in a Thomson Reuters poll in 2018 and while reliable data on physical attacks is unavailable, one former Minister for Women said around 70 percent of its female population are victims.

On Saturday, as anger grew over Mr Rawat’s comments, women belonging to the opposition Congress Party held a protest in New Delhi holding placards that read “don’t judge women by their clothes.”

After initially apologising for his comments, Mr Rawat has since repeated that wearing ripped jeans is “not right” and that covering a hole in your clothing would demonstrate discipline and values.