Known for his inclination to keep his ideological moorings, imbibed during his active association with RSS, erect even after assuming charge as the Chief Minister of the State, Trivendra Singh Rawat refused to don the ceremonial cloak during the convocation of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) held in Dehradun on Monday and asked the varsity authorities to part with the colonial legacy of wearing such cloaks during convocations.
He laid stress on the universities introducing a dress code based on ‘Bhartiya Paridhan’ for their convocation programmes. CM said, “I refused to follow a dress code which is a colonial hangover for convocation ceremony at UPES on Monday.” Invoking the ancestors and the freedom fighters, great ancient knowledge and vast cultural wealth, he said that wearing the "Indian attire" during the convocations would be "a real tribute" to those who dreamt of an India robustly standing for the peerless traditions and culture, the quintessential identity of the ancient nation.
Rawat said that the convocation being a prestigious moment for every student, the universities should introduce a dress which is in tune with the Indian culture and tradition. The spirit of the time warrants that the universities should conceive a dress code which would be a combination of modern and traditional Indian dresses while shunning the "European graduate gown-culture" for their convocation ceremonies, he stressed.
CM Rawat who was seen sitting along with the Uttarakhand Governor Krishan Kant Paul, MHRD Prakash Javadekar and the state higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat-the trio was seen donning the ceremonial convocation gowns-said while addressing the convocation gathering that the time has come when the universities should rupture the long-continuing dress legacy bequeathed by the British era and go for developing a Bharatiya Praidhan for their convocation ceremonies.
Moved by the CM’s nationalistic exhortations, UPES authorities have promised him that they would introduce a dress code based on Bharatiya Praidhan from their next convocation ceremony.