Tags:
Journalism of Courage
She caught the media’s attention not so much for her running as for the fact that she wore tights while doing so. But her time out on the track in the 1,500m heats was enough for Sumaira Zahoor to send out a message: Pakistan’s woman athletes are beginning to make a mark.
‘‘Don’t think we are backward or anything. Just that we need some more time’’, Sumaira told the world’s media after finishing seventh in the first round heats. Though this was her first Olympic Games, Sumaira had finished eighth in the 1,500 metres in the Asian Games at Busan. ‘‘But this is a great event’’, she said.
Typically, journalists — mainly from the western media — were not very interested in her sporting accomplishments; most questions were about life in an Islamic society. Life as a Pakistani woman, about poor education and lack of health and sanitation facilities.
Looking for stories of poverty, the journalists appeared taken aback when Sumaira began talking in flawless English. ‘‘Did you go to school’’ was the first salvo. And when Sumaira (21) told them she was a student of fine arts in Government College, Rawalpindi, they looked disappointed.
She met each question with tact and a quiet dignity. ‘‘How am I here if you think the mullas don’t allow us to enter sport’’, she said at one point.
Then, turning to this correspondent, asked, ‘‘Sir, don’t they have any other questions to ask?’’
She was happy to talk about Indo-Pak pleasantries. ‘‘I am looking forward to being in Patiala for the joint Punjab Games in November’’, she said.
She said that Pakistan Sports Board had arranged for training camps for the national athletes in Morrocco. ‘‘But it won’t be a bad idea if we come and train with your athletes in Patiala or Delhi’’, she said.
