From pariah to pride
They were once labelled 'bad girls' and faced a lot of odds in and outside their own homes, but they persisted on their beloved paths. Now those same women have turned into the pride of the nation.
That is what is being said about the female athletes who have upheld the country's sporting pride and created occasions for the national anthem to be played and the red and green hoisted high in a foreign land during the 12th South Asian Games being held in the Indian cities of Guwahati and Shillong.
At the halfway stage of the regional multi-sport extravaganza, the girls have outshone their male teammates to win three gold, seven silver and 13 bronze out of four gold, 10 silver and 40 bronze medals won by the country. The girls even won two silver medals in mixed events, in addition to the previous seven, in the archery recurve and compound mixed teams.
In seven events in the weightlifting category, the women bagged five medals -- one gold, two silver, two bronze -- while the men won only one bronze out of eight events they participated in. The female wrestlers meanwhile won eight medals -- three silver and five bronze – in eight events while their male counterparts won only two bronze out of eight events.
With half as many female swimmers as male taking part in the games, two gold and three bronze medals came from women's events while nine bronze came from the events of male swimmers, about whom there were high hopes ahead of this year's Games after they failed to produce a single gold in the last edition at home.
While it is easy to list their accomplishments in athletics, their journey to reach this stage was anything but easy. They faced a lot of barriers and challenges, such as criticism from neighbours, at times family members, threats from unknown persons and also had to fight against poverty.
“I have learned many times that a girl playing sports is a bad girl. The girl playing sports has no chance to be a good girl,” said coach-cum-weightlifter Sharia Sultana Suchi. “I started when I was a student of Kushtia Islamic University. I had to face teasing from boys at the campus. I even encountered bad comments -- received letters with blades attached, virtually telling me to kill myself.”
Suchi however did not give up on her sport and went on to win gold and silver medal in a couple of international tournaments. She completed her Master's degree in public administration and is now the proud coach of 12th SA Games gold-winning weightlifter Mabia Akter Simanta.
“If you play sports, no one will marry you. If you lift weights, you may face problems during pregnancy. But there was no objections from my parents about going into sports,” said Jahura Akter Reshma, a 17-year-old weightlifter.
Reshma had to give up her studies due to poverty but she later completed her SSC examinations and helped her family financially as she is now an employee of the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation.
The women athletes are not only facing problems from society; they are also facing gender discrimination from their respective game's governing bodies, which always prioritises male athletes during international meets. Of 370 Bangladeshi athletes participating in the ongoing SA Games, there are only 147 women athletes whereas there are 223 male athletes.
Double gold-winner Mahfuza Akter Shila faced no problems either from family or neighbours but she has been facing discrimination from the game's governing body.
“The federation (Bangladesh Amateur Athletics Federation) gives priority to male swimmers. It is seen that they send two male swimmers and one female swimmer to the international championship along with two to three officials but all are male officials. It is better to send a female coach or official along with female swimmers,” said Shila.
There had also been a substantial contribution from female athletes (eight gold out of total 18 gold medals) in producing good results in the 2010 SA Games at home. It is high time for the sports authorities to rethink their handling of female athletes and create an environment to inspire girls to pursue careers in sport, so that they can continue making the country proud.
Comments