By Mansoor Ladha, Calgary Herald, July 26, 2009
In Nicolas Sarkozy’s France, the debate on “To veil or not to veil” rages. But, back in October 1968, I witnessed the “Battle of the Minis” in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, when in the country’s sprawling Kariakoo market a screaming mob halted buses, dragging off African girls wearing tight dresses or miniskirts. The girls were beaten and had their clothes ripped off.
This was the beginning of “cultural revolution,” African style. President Julius Nyerere, a disciple of Mao Zedong, had decreed Tanzania should copy China’s Proletariat Revolution, rejecting all foreign things. Nyerere’s “green guards,” so-called for the colour of their uniforms, targeted miniskirts as their priority item.
Opposition came from the University of Dar es Salaam, where coeds put on their shortest minis and told the green guards to “Get lost.” Girls at a youth hostel unanimously voted that “men should not decide what women should wear.” One secretary defended her mini, explaining that it made it easier for her to move around the office and push through a crowded bus. A female member of Parliament backed up the miniskirted girls, assuring them that “you can go naked–we won’t object.”
Ismailimail 