A Bangladeshi cricketer found himself at the center of controversy onMonday due to his misogynistic social media posts criticizing women whowork, just days after an impressive international debut.
Bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib had made a remarkable start to his internationalcareer by dismissing India captain Rohit Sharma with only his fourthdelivery during the Asia Cup match, ultimately securing a victory forBangladesh in the final over. This earned the 20-year-old much acclaim, butit was short-lived as his misogynistic social media posts surfaced, drawingcriticism from women’s rights activists and feminists.
One of his Facebook posts from last year stated, “If the wife works, thehusband’s rights are not ensured. If the wife works, the child’s rights arenot ensured. If the wife works, her elegance is damaged. If the wife works,the family is ruined. If the wife works, the veil is ruined. If the wifeworks, society is ruined.”
It’s worth noting that the majority of workers in Bangladesh’s garmentfactories, a key driver of the country’s economic growth, are women. Inanother post, Tanzim warned men that if they married a woman accustomed tointeracting freely with male friends in a university setting, their sonswould not have a “modest” mother.
Read Top Stories
These comments sparked outrage, with feminist writer Jannatun Nayeem Prityhighlighting that the Bangladesh team jerseys are made in factoriesprimarily staffed by women. She added, “I feel sorry for you that you don’tconsider your mother a normal human being.”
Writer Swakrito Noman also condemned the comments as “deeply offensive” ina widely shared Facebook post, calling on the Bangladesh Cricket Board(BCB) to question Tanzim and seek an apology from the player. JournalistMejbaul Haque emphasized that such a distorted form of misogyny should notbe tolerated, regardless of the player’s stardom. The BCB announced that itwas conducting an investigation into the matter.
