ISLAMABAD – While speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Gender Bias’ in theon-going Goa Fest 2018, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza announced that shewill keep her child’s surname as ‘Mirza Malik’.
She expressed her wish to take her family’s name, Mirza forward. Mirzafurther said her cricketer husband and former Pakistan team skipper ShoaibMalik ‘wants a daughter’.
“Today I will tell you a secret. My husband and I have spoken about it andwe have decided that whenever we have a child, the child will have MirzaMalik as a surname and not just Malik. So that’s where we stand as a familyincluding my husband. He actually wants a daughter,” Sania added.
The former World No.1 in Women’s doubles also dwelled on how she herselfexperienced gender bias at the hands of her extended family when herrelatives used to advise her parents to have a son so that their family’goes ahead’.
“We are two sisters and have never wished that we had a brother. I have hadfights with my uncles and aunts, who talk about it or come up and tell myparents that they should have had a son. For us, daughters are daughtersand there was nothing like wanting a son to carry the family name forward,”Sania said.
She also re-affirmed her decision of not changing her surname post hermarriage. “I have not changed my surname (post marriage) and my name isstill Sania Mirza and it will remain that way. The family name is going togo forward,” she said.
She also focused on the issue of pay disparity among the male and femaleplayers while saying that the only way to ensure equal pay to both is tochange the mindsets towards the women players.