Former chief minister Omar Abdullah called the order regressive. (Photo for representational purpose)A government order prohibiting officials from wearing a pheran and slippers on official visits was withdrawn on Tuesday following a public outcry.
The order, issued on December 11, by Zonal Educational Officer (ZEO) Langate Agha Abdul Rashid, had said, “All the officers visiting this office are advised to visit with proper dress. It is recommended that no official will visit the office wearing ‘feral’ traditional trousers and slipper/plastic shoes.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Rashid said, “People used to walk into offices wearing pherans and carrying kangris, and I had asked for that to be banned. Today the chief education officer (CEO) called me and asked me to revoke the order, so I have.”
He denied that there was “any official line” on banning the outfit from public offices. He said he had passed the order in his capacity as ZEO, and revoked it after being asked to.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah called the order regressive. “I fail to understand why pherans should be banned! This is a regressive order that makes no sense at all. Pherans are a very practical way of keeping warm during the cold winter aside from being part of our identity. This order should be withdrawn,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
The NC vice-president also tweeted pictures of himself and his father Farooq Abdullah sporting pherans at public events.
Kashmiri poet and cultural commentator Zareef Ahmad Zareef asked if the administration was adopting operating procedures of the forces. “Pheran is one of the last vestiges of our culture. Any attempt to ban it from public life is a misrepresentation of our culture because not only is it intrinsic to us culturally, it is also necessary due to weather. Security concerns over pheran were something Army and other security forces raised, is this now a concern for civil administration also?” he told The Indian Express.
