Hazara girl from Balochistan who’s won Pakistan’s heart

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

Jakarta, August 27

Nargis, 19, is the toast of Pakistan after becoming the first ever woman athlete from the country to win an individual medal at the Asian Games.

Nargis beat Nepal’s Rita Karki 3-1 to win the bronze medal in the +68kg karate competition. She’s become an overnight star and expects a big welcome on her return to Islamabad. “I wish they would welcome me the way they welcome the cricket stars when they return after winning some tournament,” she said with a beaming smile. “I was nervous before my fight. My blood pressure was high and I was feeling the pressure and my face went pale. But Allah ensured I ended up with a medal.”

Troubled Hazaras

Nargis is from Hazara Town in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, where insurgents have been fighting for independence from Pakistan. Worse, Hazaras such as Nargis regularly become victims of murderous attacks by extremist Sunni groups. Hazaras are predominantly Shia.

“Our people have been targeted in sectarian killings. People there do not encourage girls to step out without burqa,” Nargis said. “Educating them was never a priority. We weren’t allowed to go shopping alone too. And there was no question of girls getting encouraged to take up sports.”

Her father, Hamidullah, had to face a lot of criticism from relatives for allowing Nargis to play sports. “I have answered them with a medal. I think they are all proud of me,” she added. “Things are much better now. We have many karate clubs where girls can be seen training on a regular basis.”

Nargis was initiated into Dai-fu, a martial art, but she moved to karate in 2010 after watching it on TV. “I told abbu I wanted to change over to karate, and I am training ever since,” she said. Her siblings — Ilyas, Ferozina and Hadiya, who is all of two years of age — have also been initiated into the sport.

“Abbu wants all of us to do well in sports and also education. Hadiya tags along with me and I think she is interested in the sport too,” says Nargis, who has just cleared FA, equivalent of Class XII, with A+ grades, scoring scored 942 out of 1100 marks.

Big dreams

Nargis dreams of getting a foreign coach based in Pakistan to train elite players. She also hopes to tour more frequently outside Pakistan to gain experience. “Right now we don’t go anywhere,” she said.

On returning to Pakistan, she intends to go straight into training at Hazara Shotokan Karate Academy in Quetta. “I wish to see the Pakistani anthem being played at the stadium. I ended up winning bronze here, but I want to win a gold medal and work hard to win the qualification for the Tokyo Olympics,” Nargis said.