“Being a woman referee doesn’t stop me from showing a red card in a men’s tournament,” beamed the pioneering Bangladeshi sportswoman Jaya Chakma, addressing a packed New Delhi auditorium last week.
“As a football coach and referee, I can teach both men and women,” she added.
Bangladesh’s first and only female football referee and coach accredited by FIFA, the international football association, Chakma, who hails from the minority Chakma tribe, has shattered gender and societal barriers to create opportunities for women in football.
She was in Delhi for a special jury award conferred at the third ‘Kamla Bhasin Awards for Driving Gender Equality across Southasia’, named after the late iconic feminist, poet, author, and pioneer of the Southasian women’s rights movement.
Paving the way
Born in 1946 in Lahore, Kamla Bhasin passed away in Delhi in 2021, having fought all her life for equality, justice and cross-border peace and dialogue.
Three India-based non-profits jointly launched the awards in 2022 to recognise individuals who work to challenge patriarchy, promote gender justice and inspire meaningful societal change.
The collaborating organisers include the Azad Foundation which helps women in marginalised communities with skills development and employment opportunities; iPartner India, which provides consulting, funding, and other services to non-governmental organizations and social enterprises; and the National Foundation for India, which supports grassroots organisations through philanthropy, and partnerships.
The 500-seater auditorium at the India Habitat Centre, filled with supporters across ages and professions, resounded with applause as the awards were conferred. Besides Chakma, the inspiring individuals who received the honour were Lalitha Ranjani, a trailblazing trade unionist from Sri Lanka, Sunil Mohan, a trans man from Bengaluru, and Nikhil Taneja from Mumbai, who launched the youth mental health platform Yuvaa.
Ranjani is the founder and chief organizer of the Textile Garment and Clothing Workers Union, the first women-led trade union in Sri Lanka and strives to form women’s trade unions at worksites.
She also plans to establish a federation of unions affiliated with the textile and clothing worker unions.
“I don’t want others to face the struggles I’ve faced because of my identity,” said Mohan, who is also former captain of the Kerala women’s cricket team. “This is why I began working on these issues”.
Taneja aims to enable the next generation to “grow up in safe spaces where they do not feel lonely.”
Kamla Bhasin was associated with several organisations and movements across the globe. She co-founded Sangat, a Southasian women’s network now headed by her close friend and colleague, the feminist and environmentalist Khushi Kabir from Bangladesh.
Bhasin also founded Jagori, a women’s rights nonprofit in India. An integral part of the global One Billion Rising movement, she served as a coordinator for the ‘1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize’ initiative in 2005, which nominated 1,000 women from around the world for the prestigious award.
Walls to bridges
“Kamla believed that walls, when turned sideways, become bridges. Her message is more relevant today than ever,” said guest of honour, former President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, addressing the audience through a recorded video message.
The awardees were selected after a rigorous process by a six-member jury chaired by Sri Lankan diplomat and human rights advocate Radhika Coomaraswamy.
“Kamla was a beacon of light for women across South Asia, and her legacy continues to inspire us all,” she said, addressing the audience.
Other jury members who spoke at the event included Khushi Kabir, a core member of the Southasia Peace Action Network or Sapan, that Kamla Bhasin also supported.
“I have felt today that some people live on because of who they are, the lives they have touched, and what they have been,” said Kabir.
Jury member Binda Pandey, a member of Nepal’s Constituent Assembly and former member Parliament, termed Bhasin as “the icon, strength and inspiration of the feminist movement in South Asia.”
The jury included award-winning Pakistani journalist Munizae Jahangir, also a Sapan member and daughter of the late iconic human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir who was close to Bhasin. Jahangir was unable to attend due to visa constraints.
The energy in the auditorium was palpable. When the popular singer Usha Uthup, known for her pop, filmi, jazz and playback singing in films began her performance, she brought the house to its feet. Audience members stood up to join Uthup, recipient of India’s prestigious Padma Bhushan award. They sang and danced with abandon, particularly the women drivers from the Azad Foundation-backed Sakha cab service.
“It was an exhilarating finale and a fitting tribute to Kamla Bhasin’s legacy of using poetry and music to energise and inspire the next generation of Southasian feminists,” said Aekta Kapoor, Delhi-based journalist, founder editor of eShe magazine.
Kapoor is also a founder member of Southasia Peace Action Network, which calls for a Southasian Union, which Kamla Bhasin had also supported.
As the audience streamed out of the auditorium towards lunch, the stories shared from the stage resonated in the conversation.
“We heard some inspiring stories of women from different countries of Southasia” Vasuman Khandelwal, a lawyer who attended the event, told Sapan News. “From creating livelihood systems to creating support groups for marginalised sections, the award winners have faced insurmountable difficulties, yet emerged as winners.”
For him, Chakma, the young woman who became a soccer coach for girls from rural communities, stood out as “especially extraordinary”.
Kamla Bhasin’s legacy of building bridges and upholding the values of equality and humanity lives on in these and many other such stories.
Neha Kirpal is a freelance writer and editor based in New Delhi. She writes mostly on books, music, theatre, travel, art and culture. Details at: www.nehakirpal.wordpress.com