Resumo de Hijab Not An Obstacle In Their Life

The picture showing a hijab clad Zeenat Sultana, a 14-year-old student of St Maaz High School and her similarly attired friends performing spectacular martial art moves with swords at the Quli Qutib Shah stadium on Wednesday morning grabbed everyone's attention. People were fascinated with them because they showed the world that just because one wears a hijab, it doesn't mean she can't be a strong, modern and independent woman. Highlighting this point, members of the Muslim Girls Association (which has been organising the above event from 1996) Ayesha Fatima the joint secretary, Asna Jeelani college secretary and Dr Asma Zehra, say even though they are traditionally attired, they are modern in their thought process as it's their goal to encourage girls to be athletic, educated and independent career women. They want girls to realise that the hijab is a personal choice and it doesn't cause any inconvenience in the choice of one's career, game or daily life. Last month they conducted a show, featuring hijabs in various colours and prints so women could realise their headgear doesn't just have to be in black. Ayesha and Asna say, "We are comfortable in hijabs, you don't have to bother about whether your hair is ok and so on. You can be carefree." What the organisation wants them to steer clear of is chauvinistic men. "Many men feel women belong in the kitchen and suppress their ambitions. We don't encourage this and want our girls to be educated and independent. Sports not only encourages you to aim for success, but it helps you face challenges and compete with others," says Dr Zehra. Along with other members in their association they have taken it upon themselves to get girls in 65 schools and 35 colleges in the city to learn sports. The best part is that it isn't only Muslim schools that they help. Amena Tabassum, Bushra Barkhat, Ayesha Ansari and Safia Sultana who also participated in the martial arts event along with Zeenat wear the hijab out of choice and say it isn't restricting in anyway. When asked if people are now scared to mess with them after seeing them in action the girls just giggle and say they don't beat people up. But their families are proud and everyone looks up to them. In fact one of them says her brother requests her to teach him some of the moves. And none of them have ever faced any parental restrictions over their interests or hobbies in life as they keep travelling to perform and participate in inter school events in other cities and districts too. They say they are forward thinking girls who dress conservatively because it's a part of their identity not ability. The very fact that they have been practising Wuschu (the form of martial arts the girls excel in) from the past three years confirms their point. It saddens them when other girls stop wearing the hijab due to peer pressure or stop doing what they want because they feel their headgear is coming in the way of their ambitions. Apart from excelling in Wuschu which got them addicted to its beautiful forms of movement the girls want to break the myth that hijab clad girls are backward or orthodox beings not capable of fitting into a company's work culture, Sports or social life.

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