The local administration in West Bengal's Malda district took swift action against women playing football on March 14, when some Muslim maulvis demanded that a scheduled match be stopped from taking place.
What's more, the match was to star some members of the Indian women's football team and some Arjuna awardees.
Allegedly, the maulvis and protesting villagers were able to get their way only after some local Trinamool Congress leaders supported them.
"When I came to know about the local opposition, I referred the matter to the SP and the DM, and the local police station. The order came from the top that the match should be cancelled, and I acted accordingly in the interest of peace and tranquillity and public order," Biplab Roy, BDO of Harishchandrapur, Malda said to the Indian Express.
Reza Razi, president of the Progressive Youth Club of Harishchandrapur, one of the chief organisers, said the match, which was to have been played on the field of the local girls’ higher secondary school, was intended to encourage women to take an interest in football.
"At the last moment, some maulvis and local villagers got together and demanded that the match be stopped because it would have a bad influence on the women of the area", she said, adding that the players had already arrived in Malda by then.
According to what Reza Razi told the Indian Express, some people also claimed that the dress worn by the players was in contravention of Sharia law.
“We tried to convince the maulvis and all those who had raised objections. I am Muslim myself, and offer namaaz every day. What was wrong in having a women’s football match in the village?” Reza asked. He said he had asked the local administration for help in holding the match, but the administration had instead cancelled it citing law and order problems. He also said that he would write to the Malda District Sports Association with an official complaint.
Anamika Sen, a former FIFA grade referee who is now an AIFF match commissioner and instructor, was to referee the match. "I agreed after I came to know that renowned national level women players like Sujata Kar, Rezina Khatun, Nausaba Alam and Minati Das were participating. I do not know in what kind of a world we are living. Such a thing might have happened a hundred years ago, but it is unbelievable that the administration gave in to such fundamentalist elements in this day and age.", she told Indian Express.
