Call it Talibanisation of the world’s most modern religion, but the truth is that the local Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College had a few days ago, sent jeans-clad girls back home.

Though the SGPC does not mention the “rule” in black and white in its prospectus or on its website, its president Avtar Singh Makkar says, “In all the SGPC-run institutions, we discourage girls from wearing anything other than salwaar-kameez, for our religion does not permit us to wear dresses like jeans and pants.”

Seconding Makkar, principal of GNDEC Dr M S Saini says, “You need to gel with the environment you stay in. If my daughter comes to this college in any dress other than salwaar-kameez, she will attract undue attention.”

He, however, adds, “We have not stopped anyone from wearing jeans to college, but I have asked various department heads to keep a check on girls wearing sleeveless suits, as these distract others.”

Notably, the SGPC runs more than 12 degree colleges in the state, besides, two engineering colleges -- one in Ludhiana and the other in Fatehgarh Sahib -- medical, dental and nursing colleges in Amritsar.

The students are flabbergasted. “It is strange that the SGPC thinks girls in jeans leave an unfavorable imprint on the college. What about the violence that boys in these colleges indulge in? Doesn’t it tarnish the gurdwara management committee’s image? We are adults, and have the right to dress the way we want,” says a student. Another student says, “Our previous principal made five of us return home and change into suits if we wanted to attend the college.”

Sikh scholar Dr Balkar Singh says, “Taking refuge in religion is unwarranted, as there were no jeans when Sikhism came into being. This ‘dress code’ just goes to show the inability of