Telangana: Washing of feet of Miss World contestants triggers outrage

The feet of contestants from 109 countries were washed and wiped by women volunteers before their entry into the ancient Ramappa temple in the Mulugu district on Wednesday.

The visit of contestants to the temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was part of the ongoing beauty pageant.

The video of this went viral on social media, drawing the ire of many. Some called this act 'colonial' and 'racist'.

Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy termed it a humiliating act that reeks of a colonial-era mindset.

"In a shocking display of servility, the Telangana Congress government made local women wash and wipe the feet of Miss World contestants, a humiliating act that reeks of a colonial-era mindset. Further, this was done within the sanctity of the Ramappa Temple and in an area in close proximity to the place where the divine Goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma are revered," said Kishan Reddy, who is also the state BJP president.

"Congress party's century-old legacy of making Indians kneel before foreigners to appease their high command is evident. Revanth Reddy, in his desperate bid to impress Delhi bosses, has trampled on the dignity and self-respect of Indian women," he said in his post on 'X'.

"The Congress national leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should tender an unconditional apology to Telangana women for blasphemy and for surrendering the dignity, culture and self-respect of our NariShakti," Kishan Reddy added.

Main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has slammed the Congress government saying it shattered Telangana's self-respect. BRS leaders appealed to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to intervene.

BRS leaders alleged that local Dalit, tribal, and economically disadvantaged women were forced to wash and wipe the feet of foreign beauty pageant participants.

In a letter to Sonia Gandhi, former ministers and public representatives from the BRS urged her to intervene immediately to restore the dignity of the state's women and address the mounting public discontent.

The BRS leaders, including former ministers Sabitha Indra Reddy, Satyavati Rathod, Sunita Laxma Reddy, and MLA Kova Laxmi, demanded an apology from Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

The BRS leaders expressed profound anguish over what they termed a "disgraceful and humiliating act", accusing the Congress government of insulting Telangana's women and tarnishing the state's cultural heritage.

They called on Sonia Gandhi to ensure the Chief Minister issues an unconditional public apology to Telangana's women and takes corrective measures to prevent further erosion of the state's pride.

The letter warns that such actions, if unaddressed, risk alienating Telangana's four crore people and could spark a fierce backlash from the state's women against the Congress party.