Why do some highly influential people behave as educated illiterates?
As they act like an educated illiterate person, you can’t stop wondering how they waste away their education and much more importantly the chance to make society progressive.
And one such educated yet an illiterate person is legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Recently, Afridi’s autobiography has been a topic of discussion among the netizens.
The book, titled ‘Game Changer’, came into the spotlight because of creating a massive confusion over the cricketer’s actual age. It also carries some highly controversial remarks made against some of his senior cricketers including Javed Miandad.
But, what disappointed us was the statement from the book, which left not only us but many people questioning his regressive mentality.
In his book, Afridi writes that he won’t allow any of his four daughters to play Cricket or any outdoor sport.
And, when you read his reasoning, you would know the reason behind our disappointment.
In his exact words, he wrote:
“Aqsa is in the 10th grade, Ansha is in the ninth. They’re both great at sports and even better in academics. Ajwa and Asmara are the youngest and love to play dress-up. They have my permission to play any sport, as long as they’re indoors.
Cricket? No, not for my girls.
They have permission to play all the indoor games they want, but my daughters are not going to be competing in public sporting activities.”
While talking to News18, Afridi went on to clarify that keeping in mind social and religious factors, he has come up to the decision of not letting his daughters play any outdoor sports.
He writes,
“It’s for social and religious reasons that I’ve made this decision and their mother agrees with me. The feminists can say what they want; as a conservative Pakistani father, I’ve made my decision.”
Though he called himself conservative Pakistani Father, netizens called him a hypocrite:
#ShahidAfridi is no better than a typical middle-aged average Pakistani guy, who wouldn’t mind hanging out with someone else’s daughters but would balk if his own did the same(See pic below) Unfortunate statement given Pakistan is a country with its own women’s cricket team. https://t.co/gd8oUTeGbX
— Salman Siddiqui (@salmansid) May 9, 2019
“Wow dad when I grow up I wanna be just like you”
“Lol nah”
That sucks pic.twitter.com/wp9vHYU8NC
— Abhi (@holabolabolbol) May 5, 2019
Don’t be a Shahid Afridi to your daughter, sister, or wife. Let your women be. Also, it’s alright to have housemaking as a purpose, so if she’s happy doing so, there’s no harm. But as you know, gender roles are transforming rapidly, for good. So don’t get nervous, & be a partner.
— φως (@TheSortedChaos) May 8, 2019
We understand that as a father, he has all the rights to make decisions for his daughters.
But, as an influential cricketer, who is being followed by so many young and old men and women, promoting that regressive mindset is not only disappointing but worrisome too.
Dear Mr. Shahid Afridi,
It is a pity that an influential cricketer like you is taking pride in complying with such a regressive mindset.
If it would have been for social and religious reasons, women like Mother Teresa, Kalpana Chawla, Madam Curie and many of us would have never been able to step out of homes to make this world a better place.
This is sad that in a world where we have fathers who are fighting their circumstances to go an extra mile to support their daughters to be more than just the GENDER, we also have people like you promoting regressive mindset!
At IForHer, we celebrate men and women equally who are going an extra mile to support women to lead a healthy, happy and hopeful life. If you know of any such hero, do share it with us.