Youths for Peace

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope

Kashmir has been under lockdown for a year now, initially due to the restrictions after the revocation of the special status of J&K on 5 August 2019 and then due to the coronavirus pandemic since March. Yet, amid the gloom, youngsters from Kashmir offer a silver lining on how to march on with courage and a positive mindset.

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ashmir has been under lockdown for a year now, first because of the restrictions after the revocation of J&K’s special status on 5 August 2019, and then because of the coronavirus pandemic after March. But, in the midst of the gloom, Kashmir youngsters are offering a silver lining on how to move forward with courage and a positive attitude. Not only did they overcome the constraints but they also faced physical obstacles in these turbulent times in order to emerge winners. Today on International Youth Day, HT’s Ashiq Hussain profiles seven icons of this kind of youth.

CHAMP IN HER OWN RIGHT

Captain of J&K wheelchair basketball team

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope
Inshah Bashir is a pioneer of women wheelchair basketball in Kashmir.

Inshah Bashir, 26: Inshah is a pioneer of women wheelchair basketball in Kashmir.  She has formed a team within two years, and captains J&K’s national wheelchair basketball team.

An accident in 2009 damaged her spine.  She was in Class 11 and hasn’t been able to walk or even stand in her back with double plates since. When she went to a rehabilitation center for the physically disabled in Srinagar in 2017, she had no idea what wheelchair basketball was.

“I saw boys playing on wheelchairs at the centre and decided to join. A girl playing among the boys was challenging but they welcomed me, “she says.

And then there has been no looking back. She played at district level , state level but she noticed there was no J&K team when she reached national level. She joined the Rest of India team on national level for players from different states with no state-level team. She became captain of the Delhi team in 2018, and represented India in the US during a sports tour in 2019.

She chose to promote the sport in her home-state upon her return. “The tour around the United States changed my life. Although I was comfortably positioned, I decided to resign from the Delhi team and work on building the J&K team, “she says.

The J&K team was in its infancy when Article 370 was repealed in 2019, and Inshah got injured during practice in Mohali. “Medics recommended I leave, but if I left, the team would have been disheartened because we didn’t have any replacement players. They never could have surmounted the hit. Despite my injuries I played and the J&K team moved forward, “she says with pride.

Playing the match made her injuries worse but she claims she has no regrets. “I wanted to be a doctor but destiny brought me over here. I’m ready for any challenge, “says the brave youngster from the Budgam of central Kashmir, who is doing MA in social work from Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University.

SPORTS CHANGED HER LIFE

A passion for basketball and pre-Olympics

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope

Ishrat Akhtar is the first Kashmiri woman wheelchair basketball player to be selected to play the pre-Olympics wheelchair basketball qualifiers in Thailand from November 26 to December 8, 2019.

Ishrat Akhtar, 23: Ishrat, a resident of Baramulla in North Kashmir, was the first Kashmiri woman wheelchair basketball basketball player chosen to play the pre-Olympic wheelchair basketball qualifiers in Thailand from November 26 to December 8, 2019.

Three years after a fall from her house’s second floor that left her with spinal cord injuries, this transformation occurred. She had been crippled and depressed.

“I was all of a sudden wheelchair-bound. This had been torturous. Slowly, I came to terms with reality and understood something needs to be done. It was then that in 2017 I came across basketball players at a Srinagar rehab centre, “she recalls.

After a few national tours, Akhtar says she would have skipped the chance to play the pre-Olympic qualifiers on an international level as she was trapped incommunicado in Kashmir after last year’s revocation of Article 370.

“One day, there was a knock at the door and it was the 52 Rashtriya Rifles and local police from the army who had come in search of my house to inform me about my selection.  In Chennai our coach had approached his army friend to locate me, “she says.

She was reluctant to travel under the restrictions, but she eventually wanted to go ahead.

“The next day I left for Chennai, and was chosen for Thailand’s international tour. Unfortunately we couldn’t qualify for the Olympics but that’s just the beginning, “she says.

CRICKET IS TAKING HIM PLACES

No challenge too big for this fast bowler

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope

Amir Hussain Rather is a left arm fast bowler. He was only four months old when four fingers of his right hand had to be amputated after he suffered burns.

Amir Hussain Rather, 20: This left arm fast bowler, who was a part of the Indian cricket team in August 2019 in England to win the inaugural World Cup for physically disabled, played all five matches and took eight wickets.

Rather, who belongs to the Sopore of north Kashmir, was just four months old when he had to amputate four fingers of his right hand after he suffered burns. He grew up playing cricket in his village, in spite of the disability.

He played for the Under-19 team in 2017 and was chosen for the physically disabled J&K team that toured Himachal in which he was named the best bowler to take 15 wickets in six matches.

He was selected for the physically challenged Team India-A in 2018. The selection for India’s team came a year on. “My coach is so proud that he says I can take on players with no disability,” he says.

He participated in local tournaments, such as the Janwara Premier League in July 2020, also during the Covid-19 lockdown. His fielding has also earned him accolades. “I have been named the tournament’s Best Catch. I ran more than 90 metres and made a six foot jump with my left hand to catch the ball, “he says.

CRICKET GAVE HIM IDENTITY, FREEDOM

No substitute for hard work, focus

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope
Waseem Iqbal is the opening batsman of India’s physically challenged team.

Waseem Iqbal, 27: India’s physically disabled opening batsman was among the top three scorers at the inaugural world cup that India won in England in August 2019. He was the highest individual scorer with 89 runs, and in the semi-final against Pakistan he was adjudged man of the match.

Trained as an electrical engineer in 2012 from a Srinagar polytechnic, Waseem says “Cricket gave me an identity, freedom and exposure.”

In an accident when he was nine Waseem fractured his right leg. This resulted in multiple medical procedures leaving him unable to bend his leg. And he was playing cricket and receiving a call for trials in 2019 before joining the Indian team.

“There is no substitute for hard work whether it is for a person who is so-called ‘abled’ or ‘disabled.’ There are many distractions for youngsters in Kashmir.  They will remain constructively involved. If you are working hard, nothing can stop you from succeeding, “he adds.

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

Civil services was her calling, and she made it

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope
Nadia Beig cracked the exam in her second attempt and achieved an all-India rank of 350.

Nadia Beig, 23: She is the first woman from north Kashmir’s Kupwara and one of the youngest in J&K to have qualified the Union Public Service Commission exam 2019, the results of which were announced recently.

She cracked the exam in her second attempt and achieved an all-India rank of 350. “It has been a daunting journey. In 2018, I could not qualify even the prelims,” she said.

She did her schooling in Kupwara and went to Jamia Millia Islamia to complete economics honours in 2017.

Joining the civil services was her dream since she was in Class 12. “Nothing is impossible. If you focus on a goal and work hard, you will achieve it. Yes, there were sacrifices to be made. I’m grateful for the prayers of all my well-wishers,” she adds.

BUSINESS WITH VISION HER STRENGTH

Woman entrepreneur with a difference

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope
Mufti Sadia, a math graduate, did masters in international business before starting her venture in 2014.

Mufti Sadia, 29: She owns a Srinagar fashion showroom which she started when she was 22. She currently employs 12 people, including young women, who made 20,000 masks during the Covid-19 pandemic and hundreds of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits.

“When everything shut down in March, I was worried for my employees’ livelihoods. I have found a shortage of masks and the ones on the market were of low quality. So we began to make masks without profit base. We began producing cotton, three-layered, surgical, and non-woven masks in a few days, besides PPEs, “she says.

It has been difficult to open a fashion showroom at a place where parents are fascinated with government jobs. “I had no business background. My father is in police service and my three sisters are in government service. Still I can’t work with anyone under it. I was going to be alone,’ she says.

A graduate of mathematics, she made masters in international business before launching her venture in 2014. “I wanted to give the ethnic wear in Kashmir a western touch. A lot of people stopped me and I was the first female entrepreneur to open the outlet in a mall. Many would say, she’s just a youngster, what competition she give,” she recalls.

Gradually, she built her clientele in Kashmir, across the country and abroad.”I’m considering going ahead with my plan to open another outlet. I enjoy doing something new and look forward to providing customised products for people who have a good idea of fashion in Kashmir.”

SETBACKS MAKE US STRONGER

Srinagar’s woman gym trainer is a winner

J&K: Youngsters with courage & positive mindset, harbingers of peace and hope
Becoming a gym trainer was accidental for Mehreen Amin.

Mehreen Amin, 25: A resident of Old City Srinagar, Mehreen opened a gym training centre in 2016 when she was only 21. Despite the stone pelting, restrictions and lockdown, she can boast of training 1,500 women.

It had been accidental for her to become a gym trainer. This started when her own health declined, and she started gaining weight when she went to Delhi in 2012 to live with her brother. She entered a women’s gym on the recommendation of her brother, and lost 20 kg in six months.

“It inspired me to take advice from my coach, and to make myself a trainer. I got a certificate after a year of training, and returned home, “she said.

Back home, she began to gain weight again and wanted to enter a gym due to her father’s insistence but she couldn’t find a proper women’s facility in Srinagar. She then decided to start her own gym.

Her father thought she was too young for the venture but she persisted. “In the end, he accepted and gave me money he had saved for my wedding since my childhood,” she says.

“When I went to check out the room, people would say I should bring an elder along to negotiate the rent. These things didn’t deter me and I succeeded.”

The gym began having regular members within three months, and doctors continued to recommend her centre. She has received a government citation.

Covid may be a temporary setback but Mehreen knows that we are going to emerge more strongly.

“If I had not started this undertaking I would have been dependent on others. Today I am proud of my parents and my husband, “she said.

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