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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Congress misleading public on National Herald case, matter still in court: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of running misleading propaganda over the trial court's decision in the National Herald case and said the court refused to take cognisance of the complaint but did not set aside the case.
The case is still pending trial in the Delhi High Court, and the trial court in its order on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can continue its investigation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asserted.
"The court yesterday (Tuesday) said that since it is a private complaint and no FIR has been lodged, it will not take cognizance of it. It's a technical matter. The court also said that ED can continue its investigation further. The court did not set it aside," Bhatia told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here
"Its trial is still going on. Sonia Gandhi is still Accused Number-1 and Rahul Gandhi Accused Number-2," the BJP spokesperson said, alleging, "The Gandhi family thrives on deceit, deception, and propaganda."
