The minister remarked when asked to comment on an incident in Hyderabad where some women students alleged that they were not allowed to enter the examination hall in burqas at KV Ranga Reddy Degree College for Women 

Telangana Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali has once again landed in a controversy over his intemperate remarks on women. He said that women wearing short dresses are in effect inviting trouble.

The minister made this remark when asked to comment on an incident in Hyderabad where some women students alleged that they were not allowed to enter the examination hall at KV Ranga Reddy Degree College for Women in burqas. The students had said they were allowed inside the examination hall only after taking off their burqas.

On this, the minister came up with an unsolicited opinion on how women should dress that too out of context.

“Our policy is absolutely secular – anybody can dress as one chooses to. But, nobody should dress like Europeans. And if one does, things may not go well. Our Hindu sisters wear their dresses with pallu covering their heads. We also have a good dress, we should honour that. More so, for women, if they wear less clothes, they are bound to face problems. Wear more clothes, and people will also relax,” said the minister even as he assured that he would look into the matter.

Ali’s comments immediately went viral with right-wing Twitter handles questioning the BRS leaders, particularly party MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha, on what they thought of his comments. They asked how a party batting for 33 per cent women’s reservation in Parliament could tolerate such remarks from the state’s home minister.

Ali, who is a two-time minister and was the only one to take oath with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in 2018, is known for putting his foot in his mouth off and on.

When a veterinary surgeon was gang raped in 2019, he blamed the victim for calling her sister instead of dialling the police when she found herself stranded near the toll gate.

What’s more, during an investigation into the Jubilee Hills gang rape case, the home minister blamed modern gadgets like smartphones and WhatsApp for the wayward ways of the youth.