Indian social media quickly responded with intense fervor and irate humor after it emerged that Chandigarh, a union territory, reportedly banned "scantily dressed women" from pubs and discotheques.
The newly announced rule added that licenses for the bars and pubs will be revoked if actions considered "seditious and likely to excite political discontent" are advertised. The policy was introduced after a committee comprising top government authorities such as police commissioners, health officials and lawmakers framed the proposals.
As soon as the news about the purported ban surfaced, Indian social media went berserk, heaping scorn on the government. This forced the authorities to immediately issue a clarification that the government never intended to ban miniskirts.
"We have not banned miniskirts. No such dress code has been prescribed in the policy framed by the Chandigarh administration recently," said Union Territory Home Secretary Anurag Agarwal.
Here's a series of sharply coined tweets pointedly aimed at the Chandigarh administration:
Chandigarh girls dancing in a pub after administration banned wearing of 'revealing' clotheshttps://t.co/HODkMtWgzP pic.twitter.com/3JlAtJCbwI
— Akash Banerjee (@akashbanerjee) April 20, 2016
Babus in Centre ruled Chandigarh will now decide which skirt is fit for city's women when they go to a disco or pub. This is outrageous.
— Ashish Khetan (@AashishKhetan) April 20, 2016
"It's the time to disco" #Chandigarh pic.twitter.com/VnVzMqLpcD
— Brumby Mata (@brumbyOz) April 20, 2016
Government approved discotheque collection for Chandigarh: pic.twitter.com/BNQ0RBh1G2
— Shirish Kunder (@ShirishKunder) April 20, 2016