Female student activists entered Aquila restaurant wearing sarees in protest
Annapurna Chowdhary
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad along with a large number of student activists demonstrated protest in front of Delhi’s Aquila restaurant against the entry of a woman wearing a saree.
It is to be known that on September 19, 2021, Aquila restaurant in Khel Village, Delhi did not allow a woman inside its premises as she was wearing a saree. She was denied entry by an employee present in the restaurant saying that she will be allowed entry only wearing ‘smart casual’ clothes and saree is not a part of it. This is a direct insult to the Indian tradition as well as undermining the Indian attire in front of the western clothes, in protest against which the student activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad today demonstrated in the restaurant wearing Indian sarees.
ABVP’s State Girls Cordinator, Valentina Brahma said, “In the past, a woman was stopped from entering Aquila Restaurant in Delhi’s capital, just because she was wearing a saree, it is very condemnable and ABVP strongly opposes this incident. And at the same time demands the government to take strict action against such restaurants which in any way insult Indian culture and Indian attire. We entered the hotel today in Indian attire with the intention to bring out the hotel management out of their colonial hangover”
ABVP Delhi’s State Secretary and National Media Convener Sidharth Yadav, who was present during the protest, said, “India is in the 75th year of independence, but even today the thinking of some people is narrow minded. Our fight is to defeat this narrow minded ‘colonial mindset’. Saree is the pride of a woman and such incident in the capital of the country is highly condemnable. We have been successful in giving a message to the people of such narrow mindedness by becoming the voice of all progressive minded people of the country.”
After the demonstration, the manager of the restaurant apologized and further assured not to do any such incident which insults Indian outfits and Indian culture.