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October 25, 2005

India: Muslim Tennis Star Rises Above the Protests

18 year old tennis star, Mirza Sania has risen from being at 206th place in the WTA rankings to 34th, according to N. Ananthanarayanan in a feature for Reuters. She faced a fatwa earlier in the year from a Sunni group, but her growing popularity among the young has seen some revision in the condemnations of a few old-fashioned and spiteful mullahs.

Last month she was given extra security after she was denounced for wearing short skirts and sleeveless shirts on court. There were threats to prevent her playing in a WTA event in Kolkata.

This ruling was denounced by other groups, and in the east of the country, a Madrassas board said it planned to insert a chapter on Sania in its school books.

Sania is young and confident, and has been seen to wear a T shirt emblazoned with the slogan "I'm old enough to know better, but still too young to care'. She has been defended by Indian broadcaster Rajdeep Sardesi, who wrote in a column

The obvious response of right-thinking, reasonable Indians would be that Sania should be seen for what she is: a talented 18-year-old representing the country on the world stage and revelling in the attention. Why see Sania in any narrow, bigoted sense, even if only as a symbol of minority achievement?"

According to the Statesman, she had even reached no 32 in WTA placings, but at her last game in the Thailand open, she hurt her back and lost one place. That match was the last WTA outing of the season. But there is hope that she will regain the lost ground. Tennis News announces that she will be having a new coach. She has previously been coached by Australian Bob Brett, who worked with Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic. She is now due to be coached by Swiss Tony Roche, who has trained Roger Federer.

Sania Mirza can be seen as lucky. She has outridden the fatwa, and is an icon for Indians of all faiths. She is popular with a large part of the country's 130 million Muslims. In Pakistan, Mariam Rahim is not so fortunate. She has no choice but to wear the shalwar kameez when competing.

Pakistan recently organised its first national soccer championship, under "strictly regulated conditions".

Fatima Lakhani, who was Pakistan's chef-de-mission at the recent Islamic Games in Tehran, said sports organisations wanted clothing manufactures to design sportswear that would allow women to move freely without offending religious sensibilities.

"We'll try to find ways and means of clothing to build the standard," she said from Karachi. "At least they will be able to participate."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 25, 2005 8:16 AM

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