In Pakistan, where men overwhelmingly dominate every fillip of life, the emergence of women from rural areas as gymnasts, otherwise normally ignored in sports, came as a welcome surprise when Marium Kerio of district Khairpur, Sindh, was crowned as the country’s first Women Gymnastic Champion back in 1996. But the surprise was short-lived as none of the institutions patronizing sports in the country came forward to groom Marium’s talent to international standards.
Perhaps, it was because of Marium’s rural background that institutions and sponsors felt no attraction towards her success in the sport, that is normally considered unsuitable for women in the semi-orthodox Islamic society of Pakistan.
The situation could have been different, had Marium been a girl from an urban background where women, representing different banks and government corporations, are seen participating in sports once considered forbidden for them.
Fascinated by the performance of the women gymnast icon of Romania, Nadia Cumaniche, on TV, Marium’s father, an ordinary farmer, dreamt to raise her as a gymnast.
His dream came true when in 1996, Marium became Pakistan’s first Women Gymnastic Champion. However, this did not change the fate of the sport in the country.
“Gymnastics is considered to be the queen mother of all sports, but has been neglected and has been in pathetic condition for a long time due to one reason or the other,” says Yasmeen Iqbal, President of the Pakistan Women Gymnastic Association (PWGA).
The PWGA is an affiliate unit of the Pakistan Gymnastic Federation that controls all affairs of the sport in the country. On the women’s side, surprisingly, the game has gained popularity among girls from the rural area, contrary to the general belief that village girls lag far behind their urban counterparts, specially in developing countries such as Pakistan, says Yasmeen Iqbal.
This indicates that women in Pakistan have great talent for sports. Then who is to blame for it not being able to take firm root.
Yasmeen Iqbal blames government institutions such as the Pakistan Army, PIA, Pakistan Railways, Wapda and various banks, that have been involved in the promotion of sporting activities.
“These departments mostly have teams for men’s events,” Yasmeen points out, adding, “they do sponsor some women teams, too, but as far as women gymnastics is concerned, they have hardly showed any interest.”
Yasmeen does not hesitate to admit that the Pakistan Women Gymnastic Association, despite all efforts, could not introduce women gymnastics in the NWPP and Balochistan effectively as a sports discipline. Though girls from the rural areas have a natural talent for gymnastics, it is a fact that the social structure of these areas prevents these girls from taking part in the sport.
Coupled with the resistance that parents in these areas put up against their daughters taking part in sporting activities, the lack of interest of the institutions that patronizes sports in the country has hampered promotion of the women version of gymnastics, says the PWGA president.
However, she is hopeful that after the introduction of the polices of the new government — providing maximum opportunities to women in all fields of life — the condition of the women gymnasts would also change.
“The long-standing demand of women gymnasts in Pakistan to include gymnastics in the National Games has been fulfilled by making it a part of the forth-coming National Games 2003, scheduled to be held in September in Balochistan,” Yasmeen says with satisfaction.
She also says that if, like other women sports such as hockey, swimming, table tennis and badminton, Pakistan Railways, Wapda, Pakistan Army and other institutes patronize gymnastics, there is no reason why women gymnastics should not flourish in this country.
In Pakistan, where men overwhelmingly dominate every fillip of life, the emergence of women from rural areas as gymnasts, otherwise normally ignored in sports, came as a welcome surprise when Marium Kerio of district Khairpur, Sindh, was crowned as the country’s first Women Gymnastic Champion back in 1996. But the surprise was short-lived as none of the institutions patronizing sports in the country came forward to groom Marium’s talent to international standards.
