National football players from all over the country assembled for a football match at Harishchandrapur in West Bengal on Saturday, but the match was cancelled. The reason: it was a women’s football match. According to Progressive Youth Club of Chandipur village in Harishchandrapur police station area, the reason for the cancellation was a fatwa issued by the moulavis (Muslim Clerics) against the women’s football match. According to them, a women’s match would be against Islam. The clerics also threatened to make a stronger agitation if the organisation went against the fatwa and organised the match anyway. The authorities had to cancel the match because of the threats as they didn’t want the law and order of the district disrupted.
The women’s football match was to be played between Kolkata-XI and North Bengal-XI. Important sportswomen such as Krishna Das, Sujata Kar, Arjuna awardee Santi Mallik, FIFA referee Anamika Sen, captain of national handball team Anita Roy and many others were supposed to be present at the occasion.
However, the Local Imam, Maqsud Alam claimed that there was no fatwa issued against the match. He said that he has just merely stated his opinion that Islam does not permit society to watch women playing in the field wearing short dresses.
The women in our country are fighting to make a mark in all fields, including the world of sports. All we ask is for equality between men and women. Is that too much to expect? With such opinions of religious leaders as well as politicians, it almost seems like our country is moving backward, not forward.
If you think we need more women on the sports field, leave us a comment and let us know.
Image courtesy: BCCL
More On >> Balancing Act
