Opinion The Third Edit: Should government decide whether cap and gown belong at university graduations?

From the vantage point of the present, there is something faintly absurd about certain traditions of dressing that came as part of the baggage of colonialism — such as the wigs that members of the legal fraternity were once forced to wear. Time and context wore out any extra dignity that they conferred on the wearer, and they felt hot and uncomfortable to boot. A similar argument made against the graduation ceremony cap and gown by the UGC — which issued an advisory to the effect in 2015, with follow-ups in 2019 and January this year — has led to several central institutions easing out the outfit. As a report in this newspaper revealed, they have replaced it with “Indian attire” to boost the country’s handloom traditions, ostensibly as part of a decolonisation exercise.

But what place does the government have here? It’s not as if its education to-do list isn’t weighty enough. Among the several ongoing concerns — such as ensuring equity and access to learning resources and infrastructure — the matter of what a ceremonial outfit should look like seems out of place. In any case, practical concerns regarding the synthetic fabrics used to make the gown and mortarboard, as well as a desire to promote “traditional” clothing, had led some institutions to ease out the uncomfortable gown and mortarboard even before the UGC put out its advisory — just as a sentimental attachment to another kind of tradition, one handed down during the Raj, made others retain the ceremonial wear.

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The matter of clothing presents a peculiar problem, being deeply imbued with meaning not only at a personal level, but also at the level of community, institution and state. In 2019, at Lucknow’s Babasaheb Ambedkar University, the Dalit Students’ Union sought permission to wear formal Western attire, instead of the mandated Indian wear, as a tribute to B R Ambedkar. Clearly, what is seen as a “colonial relic” by some, represents empowerment and choice for others.