Hello Hindustan with Kapil Krishnaswamy (6) - Should Sania play in salwar kameez?

The dress code of 18-year-old popular tennis player Sania Mirza has stirred a hornet's nest after a Muslim cleric went public saying it violated the tenets of Islam.

According to Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiquihim the religion does not permit a woman to wear skirts, shorts and sleeveless tops - a dress so commonly associated with tennis. Sania will have a bad influence on the younger generation of muslims. Therefore Siddiquihim has issued a fatwa against Mirza.

I've bleen flooded with responses from our readers, majority of them defending Sania and her dress code.

"This is ridiculous. Now an aspiring sportsperson will need to play tennis (or any other game) in burqa (veil)," asks Raghav from Edison, USA.

"Sania, you are doing a good job over there, just ignore all these talks and keep going," says Deepa, a surfer from Chennai.

George Mathew from Dubai writes, "She is wearing better dress than many of the female tennis players on the court. She is beautiful that is why she is getting more attraction than others. For heavens' sake leave her alone and let her continue to do the best in the coming days."

Another surfer from the US who has requested not to be named says: "Extremists and associated institutions like this force talents to migrate from India and find safe haven in countries like Unites States."

Expressing shock, Nanduri from Werribee, Australia writes, "Sania is an Indian and is Muslim by birth, and not by her own choice. She represents India and not the Muslim group of such self-centered religious leaders. India should ban such leaders from making such rubbish statements."

"Sania goes to the field to play the match and not to portray her religion. And one does not become a Muslim by growing beard and by wearing a veil," says Ambrin, another reader from Dubai. Avnish from the US flashes a cogent argument, "Indonesia has 90% population, which is Muslim and most ladies wear skirts above the knees?"

But there are other views as well, Javed, from Toronto says, "Why can't a woman wear a long sleeve shirt and sports pants and play tennis if men can do it? Nadal wears pants that go below his knee. Why can't Sania wear pants that go all the way to her ankles?" he argues.

Taking a broader perspective on the subject Badri Raina from New Delhi says, "The very fact that Sania is out there playing suggests that she has the correct perspective on history; from the time of the first organised human societies, residual notions have sought to make targets of select individuals and events to attempt continued survival in the face of the knowledge that they are on the way out." "Sania is likely to prove an icon that hastens the demise of such attempts. History may often zigzag; it never quite recedes to the dark ages. So, carry on, Sania; you may be fated to cause momentous and needed transformations where more organised endeavours succeed far too slowly. The intelligence of the future fights on your side". ( I'm not sure what this guy means but it definitely sounds good ! )

Questioning the very rights of clerics, Raksha from Chicago raises her voice, "Doesn't Islamic scholarship have issues like violence, suicide bombing of innocents, poverty, injustice that they are preoccupied about short or long clothes of a girl who brings athletic credit and glory to India and the Muslims."

Incensed over the statement, Jude from Toronto adds, "These clerics should go to Dubai and check how the local Muslim girls dress there and see what they do besides dressing skimpy. Sania is a darling with a good upbringing and a player with good habits and good values. So, please just let her play tennis and make India proud."