St. Xavier’s Mumbai Bans Ripped Jeans on Campus Because They ‘Mock the Poor’

St. Xavier's College Mumbai has issued a circular that bans students from wearing ripped jeans on campus, claiming that they mock the poor.



The circular was issued earlier this week, and students found wearing ripped jeans were stopped at the college gate by security. Students from St. Xavier's already follow a very strict dress code, one that bans them from wearing sleeveless blouses and shirts, shorts, and short skirts.

Agnelo Menezes, the principal, said, “The jeans are ripped all over. It is embarrassing to see children on campus in such tattered clothes. We have just put up the dress code on our circular board. Not a single student has objected to it...In the name of fashion, students are mocking the clothes that the poor are forced to wear. As a Jesuit institution, we cannot allow it.”





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The statement about students not objecting doesn't seem true. Mid-day reports that students are extremely unhappy with this new rule. A BMM student objected saying, “Why would the college need such a rule? Ensuring that students’ dresses don’t become vulgar is one thing, but completely putting a ban on wearing something is absolutely unreasonable.”



Another student commented, “Now that the college has got autonomy, it can take its own decisions, but is this what the administration is going to focus on? It was completely unexpected coming from a South Mumbai college.”

Menezes, however, feels that these jeans put the university in an “embarrassing position.” He added, “After observing a few students wearing such clothes, the college took this decision.”