Jaitley asks J-K Govt. to deal with fundamental Islamic groups strictly

Jammu/Srinagar, July 6 (ANI): With the fundamental Islamic group 'Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir' issuing a dress code advisory for tourists in the valley forbidding short or tight clothes and asking the tourism department to enforce it, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Friday asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to deal with the former severely.

"These are organizations, which are always trying to create disruptive activities in the state. And therefore, it is for the state government to deal with them with a heavy hand," Jaitley told the media in Jammu.

Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan had earlier said that there was no such tradition prevailing in the region.

"Society of Jammu and Kashmir has never accepted the theory of people wearing particular dress. Such things send a wrong message to the society and it will definitely affect the tourism. People and those who are associated with tourism would never accept such a dress code," Hassan said.

The decision to impose a proper dress code has also not gone well with the tourists.

Simran Kaur, a tourist from Punjab, earlier said that it would not be fair to impose such restrictions on the visiting tourists.

"I would say that everybody has their own culture. We cannot ask Kashmiri people to change their dressing style if they visit Punjab. Our dressing style is our identity," she said.

Counsel for the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, Zahid Ali, had earlier on Wednesday said they would impose restrictions on how foreign tourists dress at tourist spots, though he added that the group was not asking tourists to adopt the Islamic dress code.

He said the group is demanding the Department of Tourism not to encourage cultural aggression on the local traditions. (ANI)