Several women from one of Pakistan’s marginalised communities are learning how to deliver elbow blows and kicks as martial arts booms among Hazara women. Hazaras, who are mainly Shia Muslims, have faced decades of denominational violence in Pakistan's south-western city of Quetta, and have been forced to live in two separate communes cordoned off by checkpoints and armed guards to protect them.
If that’s not enough, the women in the community are routinely subjected to harassment and unwanted advances, with groping becoming commonplace in various public areas like crowded markets and even on public transport. In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), 20-year-old Nargis Batool said, “We can’t stop bomb blasts with karate, but with self-defence, I have learnt to feel confident. Everyone here knows that I am going to the club. Nobody dares say anything to me while I am out.”
Batool is among approximately 4,000 women that are regularly making their way to these martial arts clubs, to take various classes as a means to defend themselves. In fact, according to Ishaq Ali, head of the Balochistan Wushu Kung Fu Association which oversees the sport, there are more than 25 clubs in Balochistan province, of which Quetta is the capital.
According to a statement made to AFP by the city’s two largest academies, “the majority of their students were young Hazara women. Many of them go on to earn money from the sport, taking part in frequent competitions.”
Martial Arts instructor, Fida Hussain Kazmi, opines that there are exceptions being made, given the fact it isn’t widely accepted for women to play a sport as some deeply conservative families often forbid it. “In general, women cannot exercise in our society... but for the sake of self-defence and her family, they are being allowed,” he says.
Kazmi says that he has trained hundreds of women over the years, particularly after learning the sport from a Chinese master in the eastern city of Lahore.
Image Courtesy: Twitter/ Khan (@DaisyyKhan)