Indian shuttler Tanya forced to wear hijab during award ceremony in Iran

Iran which has been forcibly imposing Islamic laws has witnessed wide-spread protests by women, who have cut their hair and posted images of the same

New Delhi, Feb 06: Budding Indian badminton player Tanya Hemanth on Sunday clinched the women's singles title at the Iran Fair International Challenge badminton tournament in Tehran.

During the awards ceremony, the 19-year old players was pictured wearing a hijab. The Times of India report said that the badminton star was forced to wear the hijab before she could collect her gold medal.

The report while citing sources said that the organisers had made it lear that the headscarves were mandatory for women medal winners although the tournament prospectus made no such mention of a dress code.

The prospectus spoke about clothing rules, which is common in most tournaments around the world. The source said that they knew that hijabs were a must when women stepped into Iran. However there was no particular mention about it for use during the tournament.

During the matches, shuttlers faced no restrictions, such as wearing leggings or headscarves. However no male spectator was allowed to watch them play. A sticker outside the entrance said 'no men allowed.' However it did not discriminate between a woman player's coach or her parent. Both were barred from entering the stadium if they were make.

Bengaluru shuttler Tanya Hemanth asked to wear headscarf for medal ceremony in Tehran

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The tournament however had a mixed doubles tournament and 10 pairs from around the world took part in it.

The women's schedule waist the morning, while the men played in the afternoon. It was only during the mixed doubles event that both men and women could be seen together in the stadium.

Hijab and Iran:

Women in Iran are forced to wear the hijab, which is a headscarf. Women in Iran continue to battle against the Islamic laws stating that the the larger agenda is the imposition of the Islamic law.

In June 2022, Iranian authorities had detained several teenage girls and others for not donning the hijab at a skateboarding competition in Shiraz.

Last year, Iran witnessed large scale protests which were triggered by the death of a 22 year-old girl Mahsa Amani in the custody of the Morality Police in Tehran.

Amani was identified by the Morality Police for not wearing the hijab. Following her death in custody there were widespread protests by women. Women everywhere in Iran chopped their hair in protest and posted images of themselves on the social media.

The Morality Police arrested several women.