KOLKATA: Alam Ara says her namaaz five times a day. She fasts during Ramazan and knows many passages from the Quran by heart. She cooks and cleans, watches television soaps and goes to a co-educational college.
But the most remarkable thing about this 19-year-old Muslim woman is that she also boxes. And she is awesome in the ring.
She boxes in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, not in salwar kameez-dupatta, thank you. The boxing ring — her second home — is close to Kolkata’s famous Kalighat temple, one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines.
Ara is one of the 20 young women throwing punches in the ring at South Kolkata Physical Culture Association (SKPCA). And believe it or not, as many as 14 of these 20 deadly lasses are Muslims from impoverished minority mohallas of Kidderpore, Ekbalpore, Mominpore and Metiabruz with names like Shakila, Afroze and Shanno.
The picture is slightly different in SKPCA’s men’s section: 20 out of 65 members are Muslims. But among the top 30, 18 are Muslims.
A big social experiment is underway in Kolkata where communalism lurks just below the surface despite the city’s Marxist credentials. And the ‘scientist’ is a Brahmin: Asit Banerjee, SKPCA secretary and president of the Bengal Amateur Boxing Federation.
Banerjee, 62, sees the boxing ring as a prime secular space — the common playground of Hindu and Muslim youths. And his overtures to Muslims have been spectacularly successful.
“Boxing instills discipline and confidence. It’s good for the body and the mind. But above everything else, I want my boys and girls to rub shoulders and rid themselves of prejudices and warped notions nursed by Hindus and Muslims about one another,” he says.
“The walls of suspicion must crumble and communities must come closer. That’s my real goal.”
Banerjee’s mission took him to ghettos mired in poverty and crime because of the step-motherly treatment meted out in Muslim areas. His message to Muslim boys was simple: If you fight on the streets, you land in the lock-up. But if you fight in the ring, the police commissioner will give you medals and jobs.
His task became easier after Kidderpore’s Mohammed Ali Qamar won a light-flyweight gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Even as young Muslim men made a beeline for the SKPCA ring, Banerjee began to woo the women.
“Your blood is no different from Qamar’s. The time is ripe for Qamar’s sisters to storm the ring”, he preached from door to door pulling out Rahima Khatoon, Sajeda Parveen and Jahan Ara.
And then there was Razia Shabnam — the jewel in Banerjee’s crown. After she won a bronze in the national tournament, Banerjee packed her off to the National Institute of Sports (NIS) for a coaching diploma.
Today she’s an international judge-cum-referee. She supervised bouts in Russia and Taiwan this year. Earlier, she was a big hit in Turkey. She is a regular at national games.
But Razia, 26, still coaches Banerjee’s girls free of cost despite an extremely demanding job. Anwar Chowdhry, the boss of the International Association of Amateur Boxing, dotes on Razia. But in his own country -- Pakistan -- women are not allowed to box.
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