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BD’s demand for ban on Pheran, sparks row in Valley
■Sahil Iqball
Srinagar, Dec 14: Bajrang Dal’s demand for ban on Kashmiri ‘Pheran’ in public places as well as in government Offices has sparked off a a new controversy in the Kashmir Valley as people liked it as a direct attack on their culture.
Scores of Rashtriya Bajrang Dal workers on Monday staged a protest in Jammu division and called for a blanket ban on Kashmiri Pheran in all public places as well as on government Offices.
As can been seen in a video, one of the Bajrang Dal leaders has said that they have time and again requested administration to ban kashmiri pheran in all public places but to no avail. People in the valley may wear Pherens in their homes but they shouldn’t be allowed to wear the traditional winter dress pheran in public places and government offices.
He claimed that militants carried attack on police using Pheran to hide their guns.
RBD leader in a protesting video said “Militants may carry any suspicious thing under Pheren which may pose threat to security forces performing their duties in the valley.”
The statement has however sparked a controversy in the valley as people have considered it a direct attack on their cultural identity.
Reacting on the statement, famous poet and Historian, Zarif Ahmad Zarif has said that Pheran is Kashmir’s identity
which has a decade old historical background which cannot be changed, “every state of India has its unique cultural identity which cannot be changed”
Zarif said that people should restrain from making such statements, which only hurt the sentiments of people living in a particular area, and pose a threat to its decade old brotherhood.
Reacting on the statement, one Zubair Ahmad Qurashi said that as terrorism has no religion in the same way militancy has no dress code. “Pharen is a part of our cultural identity and those who are demanding a ban on it must be in a day dream.”
This is not the first time that someone has raised questions on Pheran, years back. DSEK had banned ‘Pheran’ in its zonal offices in the Valley while a similar ban on the Pheran was in place in the civil secretariat at Srinagar.
