Gurpreet Singh

The recent news of Mattel, Inc., honouring Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair was really heartwarming. 

It’s a matter of celebration to see Sinclair joining the inspiring women series of Barbie dolls, which include Rosa Parks, a towering civil rights movement hero. 

A few years ago, I gifted my daughter with a Rosa Parks doll shortly after it came out in the market. It’s really amazing to see this company including not only non-white female figures, but also those with many inspiring stories. We need our daughters to grow up not only as career women, but also as social justice activists. 

I wonder if Mattel can consider including Arundhati Roy in their list. The world renowned award winning author, who has published two novels and several political essays, has always stood for the underdog and challenged the power. She has been under constant attack for questioning the status quo in the world’s so-called largest democracy of India. Her difficulties have grown under the current right-wing Hindu nationalist BJP government, which is highly intolerant to the religious minorities and any voice of dissent. Some of the scholars close to her had to endure imprisonments on trumped up charges, and yet she remained steadfast in her resolve. 

I will deeply appreciate if the makers of Barbie can do so, so that the girls of my daughter’s generation can get inspired by Indian icons like Roy, and make the tyrants across the globe accountable for their misdeeds.