For those of you who don’t know, kiran Khan is a Pakistani swimmer who has won several medals in Pakistan, and has even participated in the Olympics. Recently, she took part in the women’s 4x200m freestyle competition held in June 2017 at Baku, Azerbaijan. She recently tweeted a picture of her bronze medal, which she had won back in June, as a show of her disappointment at the lack of appreciation. It had been a month since she had participated in the event and even brought home a medal, but no one took any notice whatsoever. She hasn’t received any media coverage whatsoever, and her disappointment is pretty apparent.
Before everyone starts whining about how she’s looking for attention, she’s really not. She’s just expressing her dissatisfaction with the media (who will broadcast something as ridiculous as a cow stuck in a well or what Imran Khan’s shoe size is) who did not feature her at all. Our country doesn’t have the best image, so little bursts of positivity, like a young woman bringing home a medal from an international event, should be shared. The general perception regarding Pakistani women is already insulting enough to those of us who don’t fit the cliched archetype, and women competing in sports still carries a lot of stigma amongst the general public. Case in point; everyone hating on the Pakistan women’s cricket team, and how their win was completely overlooked while people showed their support for the men’s team, even though they lost. Aside from the mysogynistic mindset of most people, every other sport besides cricket is heavily underfunded, since they’re not promoted as actively, hence sponsors are reluctant to offer them money. All these factors combined lead to people who are actually achieving milstones, however small, for Pakistan being overlooked, and in all fairness, it’s pretty demeaning. The mass media really needs to wake up and get their priorities straight, and so do the people of Pakistan.
Kluchit Staff
Ameera Mehmood
