Bangladesh has been independent for 50 years now. But we are still struggling with gender equality. Our national leaders say that we are always going forward to achieve gender equality. But is that so?
Bangladesh men's cricket team got full ICC membership in 2000. Our women's team also got it in the same year. Since then our Tigresses won one of the most prestigious trophies, the Asia Cup. They have been the only team other than India to be the 'champions of Asia'. On the other hand, the Tigers have neither won the Asia Cup nor the ICC World Cup (other than the Bangladesh under-19 teams). But when it comes to salary, it's a different matter.
The Bangladeshi male 'A' class cricketers get a salary ranging from Tk 100,000 (Tk 1 lac) to Tk 650,000 (Tk 6.5 lacs). On the other hand, our Tigresses get paid up to only Tk 60,000. After 21 years of our cricket experience, our Tigers can't give us any major championship trophy and we still have to worry about their position in Super 12 in the World Cup. They have lost Test matches and claim they lost the match because they lost the toss. Test matches mostly depend on the toss. Still, they get paid more than our Tigresses.
It's not our gender that makes who we are. It's our hard work, our sufferings, and our belief that makes us who we are. It's high time we should be recognised by our work and not by our gender
Why do our girls not get paid as well as their male counterparts? Is it because they can't catch a ball or because they are women? They know perfectly well how to catch, otherwise, they would never be champions of Asia. That means their salary is lower than their male colleagues only because of their gender.
What's the message here? It gives us the message that no matter what happens, no matter how much we work hard or do well we will never get paid the same amount as our male colleagues. We will always be second-class citizens. Then why are you going to school and working hard every day to make your life better when a guy does the same thing and gets paid more than us at the end of the day?
Is this the Bangladesh we wanted when our ancestors gave their lives to free the country? We are always shouting that the world is changing so we are to make Bangladesh a better place for both men and women. But there is no living example of this. So what is this 'gender equality'? A myth or reality?
If we want to make Bangladesh a better place, we have to ensure that both male and female members of our society get paid equally. Our education and our hard work have nothing to do with our gender or our sexual preference. It's not our gender that makes who we are. It's our hard work, our sufferings, and our belief that makes us who we are. It's high time we should be recognised by our work and not by our gender.
* Zara Ahmed is a college student in Dhaka