Two of the most high profile Sri Lankan cricketers are fighting on another front after retiring from first class cricket.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene who have captained the national team and were behind some landmark victories of the country’s recent cricketing history have now taken up arms against abuse of women.
Addressing a gathering of students, the two sportsmen have emphasized that a woman has the freedom to dress anyway she wants and that her attire in no way should function as a signal for men’s covetous attention or as a licence to harass.
At one point Sangakkara says even if a woman is naked the men should be able to control their behaviour. This was a tongue in cheek response to a woman speaker at the same event who asks girls not to dress in a provocative manner to attract men’s undue attention.
A few years ago a police top brass who made such a comment in a speech at Toronto University became the centre of many protests which affected him professionally.
Drawing on his personal experience, Sangakkara, who studied in a boys’ only school, says an educational institution of that nature is capable of creating sexist attitudes. “Fortunately I had sisters from whom I learnt to respect and honour women” he said adding that there is a lack of mixed schools in the country.
He also says the boys start using derogatory slangs like “Kalla or Baduwa” from school days. Kalla in Sinhala means piece and Baduwa roughly means merchandise.
To emphasize more how not to judge a person by the way he or she dresses Sangakkara draws an example from the cricketing world. Referring to Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, a fearsome fast bowler in the world who is known for his flamboyant appearance with multi-coloured hair and a ear-stud and flashy attire ‘does not mean he is a thug or a man with lose character. He is a well educated person with one of the smartest brains in cricket’.
The two cricketers were invited to address the student gathering organized by European Union and the Department of Education.
Left-handed batsman Sangakkara who played competitive cricket in England till last month is fifth on the list of all-time scorers in Test cricket with 12,400 runs in 134 appearance. He will continue playing in overseas T20 league next year too.
Jayewardena, who retired from international cricket in 2015, played for Somerset in last year’s T20 Blast. He is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest batsmen, with 11,814 runs in 149 Tests and more than 12,650 in 448 ODIs.
Women’s rights activists have repeatedly expressed concern that gender-based violence, which includes sexual violence and torture, is drastically underreported in Sri Lanka.
Even where incidences are reported, activists say they are poorly investigated and not taken seriously by authorities. Many of these advocates have stepped up in recent years to push Sri Lankans to challenge these deeply rooted aspects of their society.
