Jaya to bring in law to end dhoti bias in clubs

CHENNAI: Flaying the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Club for denying entry to dhoti-clad guests, chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said her government would enact a law against what she termed as ‘sartorial despotism’. A Bill for this purpose will be moved in the current session of the assembly, she said.
Making a statement in the assembly, Jayalalithaa said the denial of entry to Justice D Hariparanthaman for wearing dhoti was an insult to Tamil civilization and culture.“It is demeaning and I strongly condemn this. It is also not in line with TNCA’s bylaws. It is sartorial despotism,” she said, amid thumping of desks from the treasury benches. She was referring to the bylaws submitted by the TNCA to the Registrar of Societies, which had no mention of dhoti. She warned the clubs of stringent action, including cancellation of licence, if they indulged in such practices.
Welcoming the statement, Justice Hariparanthaman said it has put an end to the “sartorial apartheid” practised by recreational clubs for decades. “Immense social pressure and the timely intervention of the Tamil Nadu government deserve credit,” he said in a statement.
Reacting to the CM’s statement, TNCA president N Srinivasan said, “We will accept whatever the government recommends. We have no problem...we will oblige and we will go with whatever the CM advises.” Srinivasan said such rules had been there forever and had been followed. “When something like this happens it’s brought to our notice. If the CM has a view, we will respect that,” he said.
The dress regulation of the club says: “Persons will not be admitted into the club premises if they are not decently dressed. Persons attired in coloured bermudas, colour/multi-colour lungies, cut banians/vests and/or wearing hawai chappals will not be permitted into the TNCA club.” The chief minister said she had ordered the Registrar of Societies to issue a show-cause notice seeking a reply from the club.
Justice Hariparanthaman, along with two senior advocates, R Gandhi and G R Swaminathan, all wearing dhotis, were denied entry into the club on Friday, when they went there to participate in a book release function. The staff did not allow them to enter saying wearing dhoti was a “violation of the club’s dress code.”
The incident triggered a controversy. Several parties moved a call attention motion in the assembly on Monday, seeking stringent action against the club and other such clubs for “insulting Tamil pride and culture”. In her statement, the chief minister accused the previous DMK regime of failing to act on complaints in the past, including that of an AIADMK MLA in 2010. A former adviser to the Union ministry of panchayat raj also wrote to the then chief minister, M Karunanidhi, seeking action against the club for denying him entry for wearing dhoti. He also launched a signature campaign against the club.
Jayalalithaa recalled the life of former elected president of Chennai Corporation, Sir P Thyagarayar, who defied the diktat of then Governor of Madras Presidency, Lord Willingdon, to follow a dress code to invite the Prince of Wales. Thyagarayar insisted he would wear only his traditional attire, white veshti, coat and a turban. “Who are these clubs, when we have made English fall in line,” she said to loud applause from treasury benches.
Later, the leaders of DMK, DMDK, Congress, Left parties, MMK and PMK lauded the government’s move to enact legislation and the proposed action against the club. MMK MLA M H Jawahirullah and Congress MLA C R Gopinath said the government should ensure that Muslim’s traditional attire, lungis, are also not barred in these clubs.