The ‘Purdah System’ is a bounded custom in a number of countries neighbouring India. Fortunately, there are few bright examples from these nations whose lives speak the encouragement of ‘Truth or Dare’ in breaking the negativity of this tradition.
Five Pakistani and seven Bangladeshi girls have confidently come out of this custom for a short span to represent their nation at 2nd South Asian Federation (SAF) Junior Athletics Championships, the three day tournament which started at Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium, Hotwar on Sunday.
Interestingly, these confident girls are always motivated by their families and coaches for sports as well as education.
Narrating the common opinion of the society in Pakistan, female athletes Sahib-E-Asra and Sara M, who have come outside Pakistan for the first time, told The Pioneer, “Sports as a career for girls is not considered good. But, for our parents, relatives and coaches this thought is vice-versa. In fact, if our coach calls us around 12 or 1am for practice, our parents send us without any hesitation or fear. They have true faith on our coaches.”
Adding more about this Pakistan tag, female athletes Javeria and Samabia said, “The moment we landed here today morning, we were instructed not to be friends with anyone. Also, we were told that that we may be kidnapped anytime. So, a lady cop will accompany us 24 hours. As you can see, we have been allotted a separate building for security reasons.”
A bit different but almost similar is the lifestyle response of Bangladesh residents especially for girls. “Now when cricket is a rising sport in our country, parents happily send their daughters in athletics. Though, our government does not provide adequate facilities in this sports category but it is managed by our parents and local sports association with ease. That’s the best part of our life as sports individuals,” said Jakai Sultana and Irin Sultana, female athletes of Bangladesh.
Supporting the words of these two girls, Abdulla AH Hasan, a male splinter of Bangladesh stated, “Modernisation is a blessing for female sportspersons in our community.”
Interestingly, Khursheed Akhtar, Administrative officer of PAK team said that terrorism was encouraged in their nation by some international mafias but sports helps in establishing good relations with India.