Olympics: Dress politics in Spain Vs Egypt Beach Volleyball
Paris: When Spain defeated Egypt on straight sets of beach volleyball at Paris Olympics on Thursday, the debate in social media was not about the performance of the players, it was all about what they wore to the court. Hijab, the attire choice of the Cairo women, was a matter of serious debates across social media platforms, as it was in stark contrast to bikini worn by the Spanish players.
The match was a determining factor for the quarter-finals in the Olympic volleyball tournament. The pictures of the match went viral on the social media and the contrasting attires of the two teams, culturally and geographically distinct, became a topic of hot debate. Egyptian team comprised of Marwa Abdelhady and Doaa Elghobashy, while Fernandez Steiner Liliana and Soria Gutierrez Paula made up the Spanish team. When Spain defeated Egypt in the match, the netizens were all bothered about the players’ attires than the results. Egyptian players, wearing hijabs, long black-sleeved shirts, and black ankle-length leggings found themselves on the wrong end of the stick in the debate.
Commenting on X (formerly Twitter), a user made fun of the contrast as 'Baywatch vs Scuba divers', while another was worried about how hot the Egyptians players would feel in the hijab. Another user said that "Those Egyptian women have got to be at a disadvantage dressed like that". "Spain will be dressing like that in 20 years or sooner", alleged a user who called himself B, James. Many users also pointed out disadvantages on both forms of dresses. Freedom of choice was also highlighted in some comments. Jeannie Doran, another user, wrote that she didn't understand why the women, clad in bikini, are made to expose their buttocks, while the male players wore shorts.
Speaking earlier to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on France’s hijab ban for its athletes in the event, the Egyptian player Marwa Abdelhady had said that she didn’t like it. “I want to play in my hijab, she wants to play in a bikini - everything is okay, if you want to be naked or wear a hijab. Just respect all different cultures and religions”, she stated. Abdelhady said that she didn’t impose her choice of dress on anybody and no one should tell her to wear what she didn’t want to. “No one can tell me how to dress. It's a free country, everyone should be allowed to do what they want”, she added.
Amnesty International was one of the ten groups which opposed the French ban on hijab which it felt would discriminate against Muslim athletes. Anna Blus, the group's women rights researcher, stated that "Banning French athletes from competing with hijabs in the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a mockery of claims that Paris 2024 is the first gender-neutral Olympics and exposes the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France".
Helene Ba, co-founder of Basket Pour Toutes (Basketball For All) spoke to BBC about the ban on the eve of Paris Olympics. Her group, which includes mostly young hijab-wearing French Muslim women who love basketball, is fighting against the ban on the Islamic attire in their game and all other sports in the country. She said that the ban had turned people like her into activism. Emphasizing how younger Muslim women in France lost all opportunities because they were unaware of being excluded from the mainstream, Ba said that many stopped playing sport altogether as they didn't have any alternative.
She urged all to speak against the discrimination and infringement on people's rights, when a rule targeted a minority group. She also warned that such discrimination could hit anyone anytime and stressed on the need for mutual support, across groups, in times of need. "We grew up without any role models and we will never have - if these rules stay in place - a French hijabi athlete representing the national team", Ba added.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
