Clubs banning dhotis is an insult to Tamil culture: Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa said Wednesday it was an insult to Tamil culture that private clubs were banning people from wearing the traditional dhoti.

Warning the clubs of strict legal action, she said that a private club's move to ban the entry of a Madra High Court judge because he was wearing a dhoti on July 11, was in bad taste and completely unacceptable.

She said her government would be forced to enact a new law in the current session to curb such practices.

The July 11 incident involved a sitting Madras High Court Judge Justice D Hariparanthaman, who was barred from entering Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for wearing a dhoti.

She said:"This is an act of insult to Tamil civilisation and culture. This is a denigrating act. I strongly condemn this act. There was no bylaw in the TNCA, which banned wearing of dhoti in its campus. So, the act of denial of entry to those wearing dhoti was an act of insult, but also not in line with TNCA laws. This is sartorial despotism."

The chief minister said she has directed the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies to issue a show cause notice to the TNCA.