The Asian Team Chess Championship is to be conducted in Iran. Soumya Swaminathan who was supposed to play there asked to be withdrawn from the event as she was asked to wear a headscarf. It was compulsory for the female players to were a headscarf. She said that it was a violation of her basic human rights. Soumya posted about it on her Facebook page and expressed her grief over how she has excused herself from the national team and decided not to go to Iran. She further added that there should be no enforceable religious dress codes for sportspersons. She told that she is always excited to represent the nation in such international level events, but she will not tolerate a religious dress code forcibly implied on her. She has hence decided not to got Hamadan, Iran for the tournament. This is not the first time an issue like this has come up. In 2016, Indian shooter Heena Sindhu withdrew from Asian Airgun Meet for the same reason.
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