Students object to universities’ conservative dress codes

Students at two public universities in north-western Pakistan are speaking out against conservative dress codes that ban women from wearing jeans, tights and makeup while requiring men not to wear earrings, torn jeans or shorts, write Anisa Ajmal and Siraj Zaheer for Radio Mashaal.

The bans are yet another effort at regulating public life in the Muslim country, where some governments and frequent vigilante campaigns attempt to enforce veils, conservative dress codes and gender segregation in the name of following Islam or promoting national identity. Last month, the vice-chancellor of Bacha Khan University, Bashir Ahmad, joined Hazara University, another public institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in imposing a sweeping dress code. Official notices on campus told female students to stop wearing jeans, tights, T-shirts, excessive makeup and jewellery, and to stop carrying large handbags. Male students were instructed to stop wearing ripped jeans, flip-flops, long hair and ponytails.

“Everyone at the university is a mature adult. If our families have no issue with how we dress, the university has no right to prevent us from wearing what we like,” Hina, a student at Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told Radio Mashaal. “We all come from different backgrounds and wear what we can afford.”
Full report on the Gandhara Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty site