The Telangana government’s free saree drive in some parts of the state on Monday ended up being knock-down-drag-out scenes as a large number of women were seen fighting with each other and tugging each other’s hair in order to get their desired piece. Some women were even seen complaining loudly about the poor quality of sarees. The video of women clashing and screaming to grab the best saree is going viral on the internet.
Senior bureaucrats of the Telangana government had selected sarees in 500 designs for the upcoming Bathukamma festival, a 9-day long event that coincides with the Navratri and Dussehra celebrations. The government had planned to gift sarees to the poorest in order to mar the celebration of the festival in the state. Hence, half of the sarees were procured from Surat, Gujarat and half from the powerlooms of Telangana itself, all at very short notice.
Women in Telangana fight for free saree Twitter
When the leaders of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) started the distribution of sarees, women who had been waiting for their turn started quarreling and pulling each other’s hair. Eventually, the female police officers had to intervene to stop the fight.
Reportedly, some women also burnt the sarees they received claiming they were of bad quality and nothing close to what had been promised by the government. The government on the other hand, has accused Congress of creating the controversy. While the exercise of distributing sarees is being viewed as a politically motivated one, the state government has denied any such intentions. Minister Srinivas Yadav said that the state government is not looking at votes while distributing sarees.
Have a look at the videos of women slapping and thrashing each other and pulling each other’s hair for the free sarees:
Distribution of free sarees in #Telangana also led to this ugly scene at a centre. pic.twitter.com/ELR51TDkU2
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) September 18, 2017
This quarrel happened at a free saree distribution centre in Saidabad in #Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/cC8AxC0sCP
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) September 18, 2017
Saree state of affairs: In response to tweeples asking for a longer version of the ugly quarrel that broke out, posting this. pic.twitter.com/fW92IWvVxT
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) September 18, 2017
There are some more videos in which women are protesting against the government claiming their sarees are of poor quality:
