Incident faces severe backlash from BJP leaders across State

Hyderabad: The Telangana BJP demanded on Thursday that the State Government and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy apologise to the women of Telangana, as well as to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), for a humiliating incident where local women were made to wash the feet of Miss World contestants at Ramappa Temple on Wednesday.

“In a shocking display of servility, the Telangana Congress government compelled local women to wash and wipe the feet of the Miss World contestants, an act that reflects a colonial-era mindset. This occurred within the sacred area of the Ramappa Temple, where the Goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma are revered. The Congress government should be ashamed that in a region where the valour of Rani Rudramma Devi is celebrated for generations, they have reduced Telangana women to the role of washing the feet of foreigners,” said Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy.

For millennia, our civilisational ethos has emphasized treating guests with respect under the principle of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava,’ meaning “the guest is God.” However, while respecting guests, it is unacceptable to undermine the self-respect of our own women.

The Miss World platform provided an excellent opportunity to showcase Indian culture and hospitality to the contestants, but the Telangana government squandered this chance. By doing so, they degraded the self-respect of our women, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly condemns, he added.