Athletes, celebrities visit new parliament building, extend support for Women's Reservation Bill
New Delhi: Prominent athletes and celebrities showed their support for the Women's Reservation Bill during their visit to the new Parliament building in New Delhi. On the second day of discussions in the Lok Sabha regarding this crucial bill, these notable figures voiced their solidarity with the Modi Government's initiative to empower women.
Renowned boxer and former Rajya Sabha MP, Mary Kom, expressed her happiness that prominent athletes were invited to Parliament to acknowledge the significance of women's reservation in promoting women's empowerment.
Former Indian women's cricket team captain, Mithali Raj, commended the Prime Minister for the proposed 33% reservation for women, believing it would substantially enhance women's participation in governance.
Indian Hockey player, Rani Rampal, also expressed her joy at the prospect of increased female representation in Parliament and State legislatures.
Paralympic athlete Deepa Mehta described the Women's Reservation Bill as a beautiful Ganesh Chaturthi gift and emphasized that true democracy includes the active participation of women. She also praised the new Parliament building's accessibility, stating that it was wheelchair-friendly throughout.
Actor Bhumi Pednekar emphasized that this move would ensure a female voice in crucial debates, policymaking, and law creation. Shehnaz Gill added that women's reservation would contribute significantly to achieving gender equality in a more meaningful manner.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
