Gilgit: Local athletes have defied religious groups and the government by participating in the Women Sports Gala in Gilgit-Baltistan. According to sources, the Women Sports Gala is going on as planned after the participants told the local government that they will take care of the arrangements inside the stadium themselves.

Earlier, the discussions between the government and protesters had reached a successful conclusion after the former assured that outdoor games, like hockey and football, will not take place in the event. Dilshad Bano, member of Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, has also backed the event. “The criticism over Sports Gala is unnecessary,” said Bano.

“The women of Gilgit-Baltistan have made the country proud on national and international level in different fields and the same goes for sports as well.”

Meanwhile, Minister for Tourism, Sports, Culture and Archeology, and Youth Affairs Gilgit-Baltistan said that “women’s participation in sports as far as they adhere to religious beliefs and cultural norms is not taboo. The painful truth is, we’ve propagated, subordination and unshakable fidelity, as their chief duties. This is wrong. Let them live, let them play”.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 06 2022

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