TV channel compares girls wearing shorts to monkeys, triggers uproar

New DelhiGuwahati A news clip aired by an Assamese news channel which went viral on social media has equated young girls wearing shorts to monkeys giving rise to a heated debate in civil society in the northeastern state with some saying nowadays we are more scared of the media than the policeAssam boasts of traditionally empowering women but the video aired by Pratidin Time opened with a shot of a monkey dressed in pants with a voice in the background saying in Assamese Monkeys have also started wearing clothes and know how to wash clothes but girls in Guwahati now prefer wearing shorts for comfort Maybe for them fashion means exposing resulting in their attire which is shorter than neededThe video has a number of clips of girls walking around the city in short dresses or wearing tshirts and shortsRepresentational PicCivil society members have protested against the channel and a peaceful march was organised in Guwahati on Sunday But the inexplicably police arrested several of the protestors booking them for violating curfew when no announcement of curfew was madePrivacy is being violated Nowadays we are more scared of the media than the police because you never know when and where mediapersons will catch us and shame us in the name of news Minakshi Bujarbaruah researcher and gender rights activist told IANS over the phone from Guwahati where she was also arrested earlier for taking part in the protest marchThe channels editorinchief Nitumoni Saikia posted an apology on its Facebook page for unintentionally hurting peoples sentimentsWe are responsible for what was aired but the packaging and some of the content referring to the part about monkeys were wrong Warning has been given to the reporter regarding the matter not to repeat anything similar in future Saikia told IANSHowever he indirectly appeared to justify the objection to short dresses Will you go to a wedding to naamghar traditional Assamese prayer hall wearing a pair of shorts No Some things will never be a part of or be welcomed into Assamese society Saikia assertedHe said Assamese society still needed to open up to a lot of things especially when it came to issues like the length or shortness of clothesSaikia said that what the reporter wanted to convey was not intended to hurt anyone It was to only show people what is going on in the city these daysThe channel also carried the views of a man who said The culture of Assam is not the same any more After wearing such things they women have the audacity to shout at men who letchBut is wearing shorts or showing a bit of skin a problem in AssamAccording to Abhinav Borbora Guwahati president of the NGO College Students Welfare what is worrisome is not the short dress but the fear that Western influences can lead to an untimely death of culture and traditionsBorbora who is also organising an event on the issue in Guwahati said that according to some people Western clothes means exposure and Indian attire means tradition My point here is that a woman can expose a lot more wearing a saree and a blouse rather than a pair of shorts and a tshirt he addedBujarbaruah says it was very unfortunate that the media whom we call the pillars of democracy is hell bent on moral policingShe said they were planning on a mass protest next week to sensitise people towards women It will help create a movement of likeminded people on a larger scale she addedAccording to observors the kind of TV report carried by the channel brands people into stereotypes one a girl who a man feels proud to introduce to his parents or another who goes to discos wears short clothes drinks and smokes and is therefore labelled as devoid of Assamese cultureGender equality is something that the media should work on more The media should really break womencentric stereotypes and there should be a sincere effort for gender balancing Responsible journalists should take this as an opportunity to educate people said senior journalist and TV talk show host Wasbir Hussain over the phone