Soumya Swaminathan became a role model for many when she came out and said that she won’t don the mandatory headscarf for the forthcoming Asian Nations Cup ( Asian Team ) Chess Championship 2018, to be held at Iran from 26 July – 4 Aug 2018 and hence, won’t be a part of it. Soumya Swaminathan informed her fans on June 9th saying:
“I am very sorry to state that I have asked to be excused from the Indian Women’s team for the forthcoming Asian Nations Cup ( Asian Team ) Chess Championship 2018, to be held at Iran from 26 July – 4 Aug 2018, as I do not wish to be forced to wear a Headscarf or Burkha. I find the Iranian law of compulsory Headscarf to be in direct violation of my basic Human Rights including my right to freedom of expression, and right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. It seems that under the present circumstances, the only way for me to protect my rights is not to go to Iran.”
Further Soumya Swaminathan wrote:
“I am very disappointed to see that player’s rights and welfare are given such less importance while allotting and/or organising official championships. I understand the organisers expecting us to wear our National Team Dress or Formals or Sporting attire for our games during official championships, but surely there is no place for an enforceable religious dress code in Sports.
It is a huge honour for me to represent India everytime I am selected in the National Team and I deeply regret that I will be unable to participate in such an important championship. While we sportspersons are willing to make several adjustments for the sake of our sport, always giving it top priority in our life, some things simply cannot be compromised.”
But as the support grew, Soumya Swaminathan found herself gaining international publicity with several publications hailing her stance as a bold move.
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In another statement, in response to a comment, Soumya Swaminathan said:
“Thank you so much for your all your support! I am really grateful to see that so many of you, including many of my chess friends and colleagues, understand and support my stand. The reason I decided to write about it is I felt if players voice their opinion firmly about things they believe in only then there is a possibility for a genuine change.”
Let’s us not also forget that in 2016, Indian pistol shooter Heena Sidhu who like Soumya Swaminathan also created a furor when she pulled out of the Asian Airgun Shooting Championship in Iran due to compulsory hijab rule for women athletes.
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In 2016, Georgian-American chess champion Nazi Paikidze also boycotted the world championship in Tehran and even called the hijab law “oppressive” on Instagram while in the year 2017 the Iranian Chess Federation banned the 19-year-old Dorsa Derakhshani – the country’s second woman international chess master – for attending competitions abroad without wearing the headscarf. She later played from the US side. But all in all, Soumya Swaminathan has again started a debate on the need for Hijab for female players.
