Indian Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday commented that Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh not getting visas from China is a “discriminatory” and unacceptable stance.
He further asserted that the north-eastern state was and would remain an integral part of India and hence canceled his trip to
“As you can see, I am not in China, I am in Coimbatore, standing with my team players. This discriminatory approach by a country that is against the Olympic Charter, is absolutely unacceptable,” he told reporters here.
Thakur added that Beijing’s move is “unacceptable for India and I have canceled my trip to China on this basis because they have denied the opportunity of players from Arunachal Pradesh to be part of the Asian Games.”
The three players from Arunachal Pradesh – Nyiman Wangsu, Onilo Teja and Mebong Lamjo, were supposed to participate in the singles matches to be held from September 24 to 28 at the Jawali Cultural and Sports Center in Xiaoshan District.
Apart from Thakur, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also came forward to strongly condemn China’s action of denying visas to three athletes from Arunachal Pradesh and said the act violated the spirit of sports and the rules governing the conduct of the Asian Games.
“I strongly condemn this act of China of denying visas to Wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh who were to participate in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. This violates the spirit of sports,” Kiren Rijiju wrote on social media platform X. As well as the rules governing the conduct of the Asian Games, which explicitly prohibit discrimination against competitors from member countries.
On Friday, two wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, Onilo and Meibong, whose participation was approved by the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games Organizing Committee, were unable to download their accreditation cards – which serve as visas to enter China.
The third athlete, Nyman, who was able to download her accreditation, was informed that she would not be allowed to travel outside Hong Kong. The athletes were scheduled to participate in individual martial arts events.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: Sep 24, 2023, 11:18 AM IST
