The ball's now in their court

kicking away stereotypes

They started off as a secret sports club. What brought them together was their common love for football, a game they couldn’t dream of playing owing to their conservative family backgrounds. After all, how could young girls, who weren’t even allowed to step out of their homes without the hijab (veil), run around kicking ball in an open field? But they showed exceptional courage when they defied parental dictate to pursue their passion for the sport.

Sabah Khan, the captain of this unique all-girls team, recalls how their journey of change began: “Around 2011, a bunch of us were approached by the NGO Magic Bus that uses sports as a means to help poor children lead a better life. They wanted to teach football to both girls and boys. But we told them that in Mumbra (a small town 40 kilometres from Mumbai), Muslim girls cannot take up a sport, let alone play alongside boys. That’s when they decided to exclusively train girls who were keen to try it out.”

The target was to put together a group of 40 girls, but that was easier said than done. “Most of us hail from families that struggle to make ends meet. We can never really spare time for fun and games. We study, chip in at home or work. That’s why we were unable to personally go to motivate girls to join in. However, some of us decided to make pamphlets and distribute them outside girls’ schools and colleges.

Apart from that, we also approached the local wing of the Maharashtra Mahila Parishad that works with several self-help groups to see if any of their members would be interested in sending their girls for this programme. In this way, we managed to build a team,” elaborates Sabah.

The next challenge was to find a ground to practise. “We went to every school and college in the vicinity that had a ground to find out whether they would allow us to play for two hours every Sunday. Unfortunately, no one agreed,” shares the articulate leader. It was a member of the Mahila Parishad, who spoke to a board member of a temple trust to secure permission for using the open space around it for playing.

At the outset, the girls decided to call their team Parcham. Aquila, one of the founding members, narrates the story behind it: “We decided to call ourselves Parcham as we are inspired by Asrar ul Haq Majaz, better known as Majaz Lakhnawi. Through his romantic, revolutionary verses, Majaz urged women to look at the hijab not as a barrier, but as a flag or banner.

He has written: Tere maathe pe ye aanchal bauhat hi khoob hai, lekin tu is aanchal se ik parcham bana leti to achcha tha… (The veil covering your head and face is beautiful, but if you make a flag out of it, it would be better). We, too, have transformed something that many see as a sign of repression into a symbol of revolution.”

Through sports, Parcham strives to build a just and equal society that is respectful of diversity and celebrates difference and interdependence. Their mission is to empower marginalised communities to access their fundamental rights, creating spaces for dialogue among diverse sections of society. “And our one great achievement has been getting official recognition for our struggle to get a playground for the girls,” says Aquila.

Last year, after they started a massive signature campaign with the support of 900 girls from across Mumbra, their demand for a ground was finally acknowledged. Female students from various schools, under the leadership of Parcham, wrote a joint letter. When they met with MLA Jeetendra Awhad, he was amazed to see this strength of association.

He told them that it was perhaps for the first time that 900 girls had got together to ask for a playground to be reserved for them. He also assured them of their very own space to play. “That promise was fulfilled and the football-loving girls of Mumbra are now able to practise freely,” states Aquila. Their dedicated practice sessions have fetched Parcham some rich rewards. They have won two major local tournaments – one in November 2013 and another in March 2014.

What’s next on Parcham’s agenda? “We want to set up a resource centre for our girls, complete with books, newspapers, computers and a wifi network. Every Saturday, we plan to hold meetings where we can discuss the latest news and concepts like secularism and citizenship to enable everyone to think and form opinions on subjects they are passionate about. The centre will be a safe haven for Muslims and non-Muslims to build friendships,” says Sabah.