19th+March+2012

= Read the following newspaper article: =

Do you think the decisions taken by a person are governed by the rules of the country to which we belong? How would you compare such a situation in your country?

Mighty opponents in a hijab How challenging is it to play a close contact sport, dressed head-to-toe? Ask the women’s Iranian kabaddi team, says Dhamini Ratnam TIMES NEWS NETWORK 18.03.2012

EARLIER this month, the finals of the first Kabaddi World Cup Championship for women saw India defeat Iran, 25-19. The Patna crowd cheered raucously, as team India pulled, tugged and tackled team Iran to a nail-biting finish. Yet, what remains entrenched in memory is the sight of seven Iranian women, covered from head to toe, headscarves tied tight to prevent stray strands of hair from caressing their foreheads, indulging in what can only be called a very close contact sport. That sight made several spectators, sitting inside the Patliputra Sports Complex on March 4, question their perception of the roles women play, both in India, and Iran. Puneet Chandhok, a third-generation Punjabi born and brought up in Iran, and an ardent supporter of the sport back in the conservative Is lamic nation, puts this down to ignorance. Chandhok is an honorary advisor to Teheranbased Kabaddi Federation of Iran, and claims to be associated with the sport for close to a decade. He was there, for instance, when Iran sent its first international women’s team to Hyderabad in 2005 to play the Asian Women’s Kabaddi Championship. (The team stood fifth, in what was their worst international performance. Since then, they have been winning the silver at almost every tournament.) Three years later, Chandhok accompanied team Iran to Madurai for the third Asian Women’s championship, where they made it to the finals, but lost to India. In 2010, he patted their backs — figuratively — when they lost by a single point to India at the Guangzhou Asian Games. “Islam doesn’t prohibit women playing sports. But the (sportswoman’s) body has to be covered,” says Chandhok. Which explains why firebrand Ghazal Khalaj, the 21-year-old captain of team Iran, and top scorer in the India-Iran finals, made sure the white headgear remained in place even as she launched aggressive raids and counter attacks during the 40-minute game. Team member Zahra Masoumabadi, clad like the rest in track pants, and a long-sleeved jersey, stunned opponents with her side-kicks that seemed to materialise out of nowhere. For a country that allowed women to visit stadium football matches only as recently as 2006 (after the ’79 revolution, women were barred from attending matches of what is undoubtedly, the most beloved game in the country), an ag gressive women’s kabaddi team needn’t be cause for wonder. Kabaddi, unlike volleyball, is an indigenous sport in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is popular among young boys and girls as Zou in Golestan, as Do-Do in Gilan, and as Ti-Ti in Khuzestan. The culture of kabaddi isn’t restricted to rural outposts either. Irani Kabaddi Leagues are held with men and women’s teams, informs Chandhok. A woman player earns anywhere between $800 and $1,5000 per season. (Male players earn $3,500 to $5,000.) For international wins such as the World Cup, a gold medal fetches each team member 25 gold coins, and a silver medal fetches them 15. A win at the Asian Games, however, would fetch them 100 gold coins for a gold medal, and 50 gold coins for a silver. Yet, the strictures placed on Iranian sportswomen is no secret. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the vice president of the Iranian Olympic Committee announced a set of rules on how athletes should dress and behave. No male coach was allowed to train or travel abroad with a women’s team. Alcohol consumption was strictly prohibited, as was any physical interaction with men. This World Cup, Khalaj and Co. were accompanied by a government observer — a woman named Tahereh Tangestanizadeh — to make sure they stuck to the rules. Which begs the question, for the hijab-clad fighters, is it only the gold that remains elusive? At a Taekwondo competition held in Macau in 2007, a male referee raised the arm of a female Iranian player, who had won a tournament. Referring to that incident, the then vice president of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Abdolreza Savar, said that Iran’s sportswomen would not be allowed to participate in any discipline in the Olympics, where there was a chance of physical contact with a male referee. In December 2007, he issued a memorandum to all sporting federations, to regulate the behaviour of sportspersons, male, and female.
 * TOUCH THEM NOT**