Bhopal: Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday caused a flutter at a ceremony here, by terming the wearing of the traditional convocation robe as a "barbaric colonial practice" and removed the ceremonial gown he was wearing.

"The practice of wearing a traditional coloured gown during a convocation ceremony at any university is a barbaric colonial practice. Why can't we wear simple dress instead of these gowns?" he observed at the seventh convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) here.

Ramesh first removed his own gown and then said, "I fail to understand why we stick to the same colonial practices even after 60 years of independence."

The minister, however, said that his advice has nothing to do with the "swadeshi (indigenous) and videshi (foreign) debate, nor gives it the colour of East vs West to make your headlines."

Ramesh also criticised the practice of throwing the head-dress in the air after receiving the degree and asked whether it is worn to be thrown in the air.

In her address, Madhya Pradesh School Education Minister Archana Chitnis also criticised the practice of wearing a gown during the convocation ceremony. IANS