Revolutionaries, by any other name

Like most people out there, I was disgusted by the way the all-conquering girls of our under-16 women's football team were treated on the way back from their heroic adventures on the field. They had to take public transport back from Dhaka, and instead of being congratulated, were vilified by some of their co-passengers. Even after their return, some of them apparently received expulsion threats from their school authorities. Instead of being feted like the national treasures they were, they were ostracised, made to feel like they had done something wrong. But you know what, on reflection, I am not too unhappy at this. This is the way it always starts, from what I can see. You think Rosa Parks had it easy after she refused to give up her bus seat in the 'coloured' section to a white man – after the white section was filled, as was the rule back then – that December day of 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA? Have the women's liberation activists the world over from the late sixties till this very day had an easy time of it? Going back further in time, were Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, leading the radical and militant movement that was later termed 'suffragette' and which led to led to all women over the age of 21 finally being given the right to vote in 1928 in the United Kingdom, garlanded with affection by the leaders of their society? Closer to home, were the pioneering feminist writings of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain greeted with glee by the Bengali Muslim patriarchy in the early years of the twentieth century? In more recent times, were the first women who decided to take the initial micro loans from the as-yet-unknown NGOs to take charge of their lives and become active economic agents – since their husbands would have drunk or womanised or gambled the money away – made to feel welcome by the vast majority of their community? Were the first young women who stepped out of their households, driven by impoverishment and a lack of support from the patriarchy, to become workers at the garment factories that were springing up, lauded for their courage and resolve? Are they still? This is the way it always starts. The times, they are a-changin'. And have you noticed the names of the young girls in the U-16 team? The captain, and a star player, is Krishna Rani. Assisting her are centre forward Anuching Mogini and mid-fielder Maria Manda. Along with Monika Chakma, Marzia Khatun, Shamsunnahar, Sanjida Akhtar, Tohura Khatun and a whole bunch of others. Now isn't that what we've always wanted for our country? A collective of individuals from diverse ethnicities and religious persuasions, pulling together to bring about something far larger than the sum of its parts? Aren't those the ideals that were sanctified in our constitution in 1972? Aren't they the same principles our forefathers fought for? Died for? The English musician Peter Gabriel, writing about South African anti-apartheid activist Steven Biko, said this: 'You can blow out a candle But you can't blow out a fire Once the flames begin to catch The winds will blow it higher' Well Krishna Rani and her intrepid young teammates have started a fire here. These flames are beginning to catch. And the winds, they're approaching a full-force gale. You see, whether they know it or not, these young women are revolutionaries. Before they are done, they will change this country. And in their own modest way, this world.