Swiss number one squash player, Ambre Allinckx, has refused to travel to India for safety reasons. This is nothing short of an embarrassment for India with its decreasing standard for women safety.
According to a poll by Thomson Reuters Foundation published last month, India was termed as the most unsafe place across the world, even worse than Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia who usually find themselves in devastating war like situations.
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While the Swiss contingent arrived to take part in the 2018 World Junior Squash Championships, currently underway in Chennai, the Swiss contingent had its top ranked player missing. As many as 28 countries are taking part in the championship, that started on 17 July but parents of Amber Allinckx did not want her to come to India after reading reports about the number of crimes against women in the country.
“Ambre Allinckx is our top-ranked women’s player. She couldn’t make it because her parents did not want. They have been reading reports on the internet about how unsafe India is for women and didn’t want to take the risk of sending their daughter over. However, we have not experienced any disturbance so far.”, Swiss coach Pascal Bhurin said.
Teams from US, Australia and Iran too have been advised to dress conservatively. The recent incident of gang-rape in Chennai, where 17 men were arrested for raping a differently-abled 11-year-old girl for six months inside her flat is the true cause of fear.
“Of course the views and choice of every parent must be fully respected. However, there are over 250 players and officials from 28 countries, including a full squad from Switzerland.”, said Andrew Shelley, the Chief Executive of the World Squash Federation (WSF).