Unveiling

Afghan women to throw the first punch:

Rambler

It is reported that young girls of Afghanistan are taking to the rigorous sport of boxing like ducks to water. They are training hard to give a good account of themselves at the 2012 Olympics. Afghanistan had been an Islamic state with a strict religious code under the Taliban and women didn’t dare so much as to show themselves in public. In that context one should be thankful that the new dispensation is gradually lowering the barriers and liberalising Afghan society from the stringent Islamic canons allowing the surfacing of the country’s sportsmen and women’s dormant talents.

The emergence of Afghan women from their cloistered existence to the hurly burly arena of sports is therefore a welcome development. It would not only expose these fair lasses to the carefree life of a different world but also add that much colour if not glamour to the playing field which had been starved of variety in recent years.

Be that as it may this represents a sea change in the evolution of a one time hardline Islamic state where not only women but the society at large were boxed in on all fronts by oppressive laws and diktats. Especially to be plunged into a discipline such as boxing where the only ring these women knew before were the ones they wore on their little fingers is indeed outstanding. Being a male dominated sport it is also a reflection of how age old barriers and prejudices are being gradually dismantled and gender equality is gaining currency in this once theocratic state.

These new pugilistic powers that is fast being acquired by the fairer sex of a once fundamentalist Islamic state promises to open up a whole gamut of possibilities. They who were constrained by the purdah and veil which are standard wear in a conservative islamic society will now get the opportunity to unveil their wide array of punches on adversaries from countries that conquered and caused much destruction to their motherland.

Take the instance of a burly Afghan lass with bulging pectorals confronting an equally muscle bound specimen from the Apple State. There is sure to be no love lost here and the duel will be well worth going a long way to behold where the present role of the conqueror and the conquered may well be reversed. It is certainly bound to be a no holds bar affair. The Afghan lass is bound to conjure up a picture of the various embargoes and aid cuts to her impoverished country by uncle Sam not many moons ago and reply with a firm uppercut on her opposite number to compensate for all the cuts in relief aid.

Like her erstwhile leaders the American pugilist may offer a lame defence synonymous with the puerile defence that was trotted out by the Bush Adminstration before zeroing in on Afghanistan in search of Taliban fighters. The US boxer may also offer a feint as Bush did when the slings and arrows of all anti-war nations were directed at him. But all this may not count in the end as the American lass may be on the canvass and counted out of the contest, downed under a hail of punches thrown at her redoubtable Afghan challenger.

The knockout may be bruising to the US boxer but not to the Afghan lass who will undoubtedly be a knockout in her new boxing gear that would have been unthinkable for her ilk not long ago.

The lead taken by a hardline Muslim state hopefully would be the catalyst for similar countries to open up and provide their female sportswomen an opportunity to demonstrate their athletic powers to the world - especially in the no holds barred ring game where no quarters are asked or given.