Venue vandalism over girl's football match: Anu Muhammad calls for more women sports events
His comments come against the backdrop of a girl’s football match being called off in Joypurhat after the venue was vandalised by locals and madrasa students
Noted economist and public intellectual Anu Muhammad today (29 January) called for more women and girls sports events to be organised across the country.
"More baul, music, dance and drama events should be arranged. More fairs need to be arranged. We need to raise our voice," he said in a post on Facebook today (29 January).
His comments come against the backdrop of a girl's football match being called off in Joypurhat after the venue was vandalised by locals and madrasa students.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
According to The Daily Star, the football match was organised by the T-Star Club, a local sports club, which had been selling tickets for the month-long event.
On Tuesday, a friendly match between the two female teams from Joypurhat and Rangpur was supposed to take place before the final match of the tournament, when suddenly locals objected to the participation of women in sports.
Soon, protesters, including madrasa students, gathered at the Independence Square near Tilakpur Railway Station, where they declared women's football "anti-Islamic".
They proceeded to the venue from there and vandalised it.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over the incident, the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) demanded a fair, speedy and impartial investigation into the incident, appropriate prosecution of the guilty parties, and ensuring overall security, including necessary medical care, for the affected female players.
In a statement today, the legal aid organisation also demanded that the authorities concerned take necessary steps and shape public opinion to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future.
