Indian Chess Star Soumya Swaminathan Refuses To Wear Headscarf, Withdraws From Iran Event

42

Soumya Swaminathan has done the right thing, and should be applauded for her courage. And where are the feminists on this? They should be loudly proclaiming that this requirement of the Islamic Republic of Iran is nothing short of grotesque. Not only because forcing non-Muslim women to wear Islamic garb is an outrage, but because of Iran’s human rights record, and in particular, its brutal treatment of women, which is monstrous. Right now, all over Iran, women are risking imprisonment and torture and proclaiming their freedom by taking off the headscarf. Western feminists should be standing with them, and with Soumya Swaminathan. Instead, we hear not a word.

“Indian Chess Star Soumya Swaminathan Refuses To Wear Headscarf, Withdraws From Iran Event,” by Tanya Rudra, NDTV, June 13, 2018:

Woman Grandmaster and former world junior girls’ champion Soumya Swaminathan has refused to participate in the Asian Team Chess Championship, to be held in Hamadan, Iran, from July 26 to August 4, because of the compulsory-headscarf rule in the country which she said violated her personal rights. She took to her Facebook page to say, “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.” She further said that the religious dress codes should not be imposed on players.

Story continues below advertisement

“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,” she added….

Here is what Soumya Swaminathan wrote on her Facebook page about her decision.

“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.

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.”…

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding. Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.

Follow Pamela Geller on
Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.

Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.

If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
42 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
taxpayer22
taxpayer22
5 years ago

The failure on behalf of feminist groups to devote adequate attention to the Muslim rape epidemic and Islamic Female Genital Mutilation unveils the true face of what characterizes third wave feminism – rampant hypocrisy and an agenda to downplay and dismiss genuine women’s rights issues that don’t fit into their warped paradigm .

The Left claims it opposes bigotry. Yet Islam, the most bigoted ideology that exists today, is being promoted.

Suresh
Suresh
5 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

Its the Left/Liberal /Feminazi pro-jihadi supported immigration that created the mess . Third wave feminism has created pussified men who won’t step up to protect them http://tinyurl.com/y9ll38ls

while muslims are more male driven thuggish and get away with it.

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

well, if you would simply cover all hair on your property, you would not have to worry about other men defiling it.

Patriotic American
Patriotic American
5 years ago

You won’t hear a peep about Ms. Swaminathan from “feminists,” as they are continuing to gin up anti-male hatred as part of #MeToo and “Time’s Up.” They also don’t say a word about the evisceration of women’s privacy, dignity, boundaries, their personal safety and even the risk to their lives caused by the Left caving to LGBT supremacist groups demanding that all bathrooms, showers, locker rooms et al., be completely redesigned to accommodate the 0.3% in our society that identify as “transgender.” Nor about the mass drive to transgenderize increasing swaths of society.

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
5 years ago

They are cowards, they don’t want to “offend” anyone.

Ron rockit
Ron rockit
5 years ago

Not a word from Roger Waters or Haaretz or the NYT.

El Kabong
El Kabong
5 years ago
Reply to  Ron rockit

Why would they? It doesn’t fit their left wing progressive commie line.

NYgal
NYgal
5 years ago

Are Chinese, Japanese and Korean players and the rest of the India team going to bow down to Sharia and wear head scarves? Shame on those countries and on the participating competitors.

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago
Reply to  NYgal

all involved are free to choose. While this young Indian girl’s choice is most admirable, others do not need to be villainized for their choices. There are many other circumstances, and we can’t possibly know all of them.

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago
Reply to  jamcar

Yeah because going along to get along is always the moral high ground for the muslum apologist/sympathizer/collaborator.

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago

who says they are just “going along”? As I said, they are free to think for themselves. Maybe defeating these people on their own turf would mean something. Maybe they have a thousand other reasons to make the choice they make. But no, they shouldn’t do it because IzlamDownpressHumanity says it’s wrong. gfy.

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago
Reply to  jamcar

Muslum appeasement by any other name smells just as sh!tty chump.

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago

I have no problem not allowing scarves anywhere outside of Islamic countries. I think they should be outlawed here. is that too appeasing for you, chump?

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago
Reply to  jamcar

I admire the Indian girl for refusing to wear the islamic slave rag, I revile any other girls who choose to go to Iran and volunteer to put it on because it’s an act of muslum appeasement.

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago

I wonder if the poor girl will have to face the wroth of any of India’s 180 million muslum 5th columnists, er citizens?

Achmed Mohandjob
Achmed Mohandjob
5 years ago

If course she will. Injuh LOVES its moslems.

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago

It’s sad. I’ve read that India’s educational system doesn’t teach about the systematic genocide of 80 million Hindus at the hands of the muslum vermin — just like in the USA!

Alex
Alex
5 years ago

It has been 200 millions, not 80 millions. But Hindus are infinitely more fit to survive and win over Islam than the European degenerate races who have submitted with no resistance to be slaves of Arabs and Muslims.

Big John
Big John
5 years ago

Why don’t you hear the left complaining about muslim women’s rights? Simple… the Muslim’s are paying big money to the left to destroy America plain and simple…

R Rose
R Rose
5 years ago

Brave and courageous female Indian chess star. Where are the melt down leftists? Oh, Islam is spared their rath.

gfm2012
gfm2012
5 years ago
Reply to  R Rose

Also, their wrath.

brian keith
brian keith
5 years ago

Way to go… kudos to you for standing up of for what you believe in a TRUE CAUSE…. I apologize to you for the lack of support from the feminists groups here in the US, but you have my unwavering support and you will not be forgotten…

TD
TD
5 years ago

Why are terrorists even allowed to host sporting events?
The only event they should participate in is the waterboarding event.

Jim M. Ryles
Jim M. Ryles
5 years ago

Did they rape her before she left as is custom…islam the cult of hate and death. Al-la-la wills it!.

Alex
Alex
5 years ago
Reply to  Jim M. Ryles

They are conquering the world without resistance of the Western world and naive passivity of China. The only once resisting are India versus Pakistan, Israel versus Arabs and Iran and Russia still playing poker, but firmly defending boundaries against “migrants” and sheikhs. This is the reason of anti-Russia vicious campaign in England and USA.

Alex
Alex
5 years ago
Reply to  Alex

I forgot mentioning the remarkable individuals like Pamela Geller, Wikileaks, Robinson who is now as well as dead and other real martyrs waging their individual war against Islamic conquest. Time will come when they will be called greatest heroes.

poortaxpayerwindsor
poortaxpayerwindsor
5 years ago

A Real Hero

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
5 years ago

Bravo, brave daughter of India! You make your people proud! 🙂

veryneat
veryneat
5 years ago
Reply to  R. Arandas

Agree. She is clearly a highly intelligent, articulate and courageous young woman.
Why does the organisation that arranges these championships permit Iran to lay down such humiliating conditions? If Iran can’t accept unveiled women, the championships should be held in a different country. Why aren’t ALL the Asian national chess federations protesting this? Cowards all.

Arthur Kingmarlin
Arthur Kingmarlin
5 years ago

If Feminists were REALLY interested about promoting equality for women they would tackle gender segregation in mosques where Females are forced to SIT AT THE BACK or curtained off from the important worshippers at the front.
If a U.S church made it’s female congregants sit apart, behind at the rear or out of sight behind a curtain can you IMAGINE the uproar from the hairy pitted purple headed fembians? But muslims trump women in the intersectionality hierarchy so ridiculous “feminists” are caught with their TROUSERS down!

aemoreira1981
aemoreira1981
5 years ago

You might also have Orthodox Judaism in such a case.

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
5 years ago
Reply to  aemoreira1981

Not all synagogues require that though. I think the Reform and even Conservative temples typically do not.

Scott Smith
Scott Smith
5 years ago

Why would the chess competition be held in a terrorist nation state anyways?

Alleged-Comment
Alleged-Comment
5 years ago

LOL! You go girl!!

Alex
Alex
5 years ago

She should be treasured and well protected by Indian security. Such a brilliant young woman; honor to humankind.

IzlamDownpressesHumanity
IzlamDownpressesHumanity
5 years ago

Kudos to this brave girl.

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago

I was selling a house and had an interested party who was an Indian family. They made a lowball offer, which I accepted with conditions of “as is”. The people came back after inspection and wanted me to spend $10,000 fixing items from the inspection. I pushed back on their realtor, and she told me “well, you have to understand that these people are from a different culture…”. Needless to say, they did not buy my house. I should not have to lose $30,000 to accommodate someone’s culture in my country. I do admire this young girl for her stance, and simply not attending is the best thing to do. If the Iranians want to impose that element of their culture into that event, it is their prerogative. It is also their prerogative to dilute the meaning of the event, and deny the competitors the challenge of taking on the best in the world.

aemoreira1981
aemoreira1981
5 years ago
Reply to  jamcar

Did you have as is or with all faults written in the terms?

jamcar
jamcar
5 years ago
Reply to  aemoreira1981

yes – they wanted new a/c and unnecessary roof repairs, and as is was very specific.

AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
5 years ago

comment image

DPMP
DPMP
5 years ago

At least iran doesn’t have to make excuses when she beat all of them.

Owen_Morgan
Owen_Morgan
5 years ago

Three billion cheers for Soumya Swaminathan.

Sponsored
Geller Report
Thanks for sharing!