{"id":10808,"date":"2012-05-15T02:00:49","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T06:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?p=10808"},"modified":"2012-05-15T00:15:37","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T04:15:37","slug":"maria-toor-pakay-vs-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/05\/maria-toor-pakay-vs-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Toor Pakay vs. the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In a 2010 television interview, quoted in a more recent article<\/a> (I was not able to find an original recording of the interview), Pakistan\u2019s highest-ranking female squash player, Maria Toor Pakay, spoke on the rights of women in Pakistan:<\/p>\n

\u201cGirls don\u2019t get any rights. They cannot go out of the house. They cannot do whatever they want to do. They get married when they are 12, 14; they are not allowed to get an education. They are not allowed to play sports. They have to stay covered; if they don\u2019t, they are killed. All the time I wish that I could make a change.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Maria<\/a>
Maria Toor Pakay. Image via Dawn.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I assume that Pakay\u2019s comments were especially representative of her home in South Waziristan (specifically Bannu, where she was born). \u00a0Media coverage of Pakay\u2019s achievements<\/a> is heavily focused on her roots in this region, making particular reference to it being the \u201chome of the Taliban<\/a>,\u201d where \u201cterrorism is a way of life<\/a>.\u201d Even local news media<\/a> underscore her connection to this conservative tribal region of Pakistan.<\/p>\n

As much as I admire Maria Toor Pakay\u2019s strength and resolve in her journey to represent Pakistan among the world\u2019s top-20 women squash players, I find her statement above to be partly misleading when applied to Pakistani women and girls as a whole.\u00a0 Such sweeping comments actually take away from those women who have found success in their respective fields in Pakistan\u2019s male-dominated society.<\/p>\n

Less attention is often given to sportswomen like Sana Mir<\/a>, Shabana Akhtar<\/a> and Kiran Khan<\/a>, who have found success in cricket, athletics and swimming respectively.\u00a0 Perhaps it is because these women have not escaped the oppressive influence of the Taliban in South Waziristan?\u00a0 While this in no way downplays the successes of women of that region, it is equally important to commend the successes of all Pakistani women who have worked hard within an oppressive, patriarchal system to achieve recognition within their respective fields.\u00a0 While Pakistani women participating in sports at a professional level is still largely a new phenomenon, there are many women who are actively participating with their male counterparts in various fields in the public arena.\u00a0 In a recent MSN news photo gallery<\/a>, ten powerful Pakistani women were identified, ranging from politicians, writers and entertainers.\u00a0 This collection identified women like Hina Rabbani (Pak Foreign Minister), Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (documentary filmmaker) and Asma Jahangir (human rights lawyer) as women who were defying stereotypes and exemplifying the potential of Pakistani women across the country.\u00a0 Therefore, by equating South Waziristan with Pakistan in so much of the coverage about Pakay, the stories of courage and determination displayed by the aforementioned women is sadly ignored and only serves to perpetuate stereotypes of all Pakistani women as repressed and uneducated.<\/p>\n

Historically, it is not untrue to suggest that sports and women have been considered a volatile mix.\u00a0 Women in Pakistan who have participated in public soccer games, running marathons and squash have been met with backlash from conservative factions, who claim it is immodest and therefore unIslamic<\/a>.\u00a0 Recent trends, however, suggest that more and more Muslim women are taking up professional sports further buoyed by an industry promoting modest and flattering clothing<\/a> for Muslim sportswomen.<\/p>\n

Legislation on the rights of women in Pakistan finds its source in understandings of the Quran and Sunnah, which are encoded in the country\u2019s personal status code.\u00a0 Pakistan over the years has introduced numerous legislations to protect the rights of women.\u00a0 This include laws regarding child marriage, divorce, polygamy, women\u2019s representation in parliament, and even protection of women against workplace harassment.\u00a0 When public institutions are unable to implement such policies, it becomes a problem of governance, making lack of policy implementation a key obstacle towards achieving equal rights for women in Pakistan.\u00a0 Additionally, the varying interpretation of Shariah further underscores socio-economic divisions.<\/a> For instance, we cannot expect a highly educated, gainfully employed, middle-class woman from key urban cities with the freedom to choose her spouse and who expects to inherit based on her religious denomination, to have the same level of intense feeling of deprivation as a poor, rural Pakistani woman.\u00a0 I agree with Pakay, that religious doctrines related to women are part of the problem<\/a>.\u00a0 They should be subject to interpretation (ijtihad) based on present day context, under the delicate supervision of a council of highly educated scholars.<\/p>\n

All of this aside, Pakay, 21, is Pakistan\u2019s No. 1 ranked women\u2019s squash player and as of May 2012, she is ranked 67 in the world<\/a>.\u00a0 She moved to Peshawar, and with the support of her father (and her own initiative and hard work), was eventually able to secure top coaching and sponsorship in squash.\u00a0 Her story of success is important and a source of pride for other young women (irrespective of their ethnic background) to pursue a career in professional sports.\u00a0 Let\u2019s use her story to inspire all Muslim women, whether in Pakistan or abroad, because any inroads she makes in the world of squash will only guide us to strive further to achieve our potential.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a 2010 television interview, quoted in a more recent article (I was not able to find an original recording of the interview), Pakistan\u2019s highest-ranking female squash player, Maria Toor Pakay, spoke on the rights of women in Pakistan: \u201cGirls don\u2019t get any rights. They cannot go out of the house. They cannot do whatever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":10809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15],"tags":[1740,1030,1742,1741],"class_list":["post-10808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports","tag-maria-toor-pakay","tag-pakistan","tag-south-waziristan","tag-squash"],"yoast_head":"\nMaria Toor Pakay vs. the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a 2010 television interview, quoted in a more recent article (I was not able to find an original recording of the interview), Pakistan\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2012\/05\/maria-toor-pakay-vs-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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