Do Jahanara’s allegations really surprise us?

When former Bangladesh women's cricket team captain Jahanara Alam came forward with explosive allegations of sexual harassment against team selector and manager Manjurul Islam, and late Towhid Mahmud, former in-charge of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) women's department, the larger question was not who did what, but rather: was anyone shocked that this could happen to sportswomen in Bangladesh at all?

Across our streets, homes, workplaces, and schools, we have long lived with the fact that sexual harassment is rampant. Women silently endure, suppress, and fear the cost of speaking out.

So, when women step into a male-dominated arena like sports, where officials, selectors and administrators are overwhelmingly men, the odds are stacked against them. Jahanara's revelation is not an outlier; it may be the predictable outcome of a system built on male privilege, unchecked power and a culture of silence.

The pacer alleges that during the 2022 Women's World Cup, she endured indecent proposals and inappropriate physical contact. She says she raised the issue in a letter to BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury that very year—and nothing meaningful happened. The question of why we are hearing this story only now should alarm us. It is sad, yet predictable, that female players feel compelled to suppress their voices, fearing their careers, livelihoods, and even their places on the team can be in jeopardy.

It is within the reach of BCB to act. The board has formed a committee to investigate the allegations and given it 15 working days to report its findings. But given the board's past and present reputation for being complicit in or slow to act on serious complaints, the trust deficit looms large.

The investigation must not merely be a perfunctory internal exercise. If it is handled this time as business as usual—closed doors, quiet deals, no accountability—future sportswomen will say: "I'm not staying, I'm not risking it." This is why an independent, external investigation becomes essential.

When a female athlete alleges harassment at the hands of those who evaluate her, select her, reward her, the usual chain of command cannot remain the only mechanism for justice. As sports commentator and former cricketer Tamim Iqbal has said, this needs a probe "with no one from the BCB involved."

This is not about punishing one person or doing minimal damage control: it is about preserving the integrity of women's sport in Bangladesh. Why should we care? Because this is not just Jahanara's problem; it is the next generation's problem.

If girls see the national team as a place where talent, grit and ambition can be crushed by misconduct and silence, they might never step in, and we will lose future sportswomen. We will lose the equity that sport could symbolise in a society striving for gender justice.

To avoid that outcome, we must insist on four things: one, full transparency in the inquiry process—specifically, who is on the committee, how evidence is gathered, and how victims are protected. Two, protection and support for those who spoke out—they should not be isolated, punished, or sidelined. Three, systemic reforms in the BCB and sporting bodies: mandatory safe-sport policy, an independent ombudsman, regular training, and reporting mechanisms are necessary. Four, government oversight—because when self-regulation fails, as it so often does, this becomes a public interest matter.

The question is not merely whether someone will pay for past wrongdoing. The question is whether we allow a culture in which female athletes enter hostile terrain, are asked to perform while vulnerable, and disbelieved when they speak.

If the answer is silence, then yes, we knew this would happen, and we did nothing. And if we do nothing, we lose more than one athlete; we lose trust, we lose ambition, we degrade sport into yet another arena of male dominance.

Maybe we are shocked by the name, the sport, the profile. But not by the pattern. And therein lies our collective failure. This moment must become a turning point. Sport in Bangladesh deserves better, women athletes deserve better, and we owe it to the next generation to make sure this is the end of an era, not a continuation.

Naziba Basher is a journalist at The Daily Star.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries, and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.