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Sports promotion seen as tool against violence in Pakistan

By Asad Zia
Inauguration ceremony of KP Governor Peace Sports Gala in Qayum Stadium, Peshawar. Photo by Asad Zia/News Lens Pakistan
1 of 3 | Inauguration ceremony of KP Governor Peace Sports Gala in Qayum Stadium, Peshawar. Photo by Asad Zia/News Lens Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan July 28 (News Lens Pakistan) -- Winning a gold medal in the national games was the furthest thing from his mind when 16-year-old Qaiser Afridi took up judo at age 10.

Nearly as old as the militancy that has wracked his native Khyber Agency, bordering Afghanistan, Qaiser just wanted a sport to get away from the stifling conflict that had killed all sports and entertainment in his tribal district.

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Now a 10th-grade student at Khyber Model School in Bara, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, he has spent years traveling to nearby Peshawar to learn judo at the Qayyum Stadium sports complex.

Local judo adherents are few, and it is not taught or practiced widely, but Qaiser had taken a liking to it as a child after seeing it performed.

"For the last six years, there have been no sports activities in FATA because of terrorism and extremism," Muhammad Ayaz Khan, FATA's sports director, told News Lens Pakistan.

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"Militants have destroyed education institutes, and all sports activities have died. Because of the terror of bombs and suicide attacks, people cannot gather in one place," Khan said. "FATA has very talented athletes, but because of lack of opportunity, they cannot realize their potential."

When Qaiser signed up for judo instruction, he did not know it might be one of the wisest career decisions a boy of his age, adrift in a conflict-shattered society, could have made.

"First, Qayyum Stadium is the only sports complex that teaches judo as a professional sport. Second, being a national sports complex, it trains and recommends sportsmen of distinction to be put on national teams," Qaiser told News Lens Pakistan during a break in training.

Shahid Shinwari, general secretary of the FATA Olympic Association, part of the Pakistan Olympic Association, said concerted efforts at sports promotion would go a long way toward ending terrorism and violence.

Sports activities in FATA ceased from 2006 to 2010, Shinwari told News Lens.

"In Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur agencies' militancy and military operations displaced people and sent youth into the confines of their homes. The fields and playgrounds were abandoned," Shinwari said.

For some time, it seemed to Qaiser that his plans to excel in his favorite sport were bearing fruit, but then came 2009, the year militancy swept through the border towns like wildfire.

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That year his father was killed in a mortar attack by militants on their village.

Driven from their home by the army's counteroffensive, Qaiser's family fled to one of the largest camps for internal refugees in Nowshera district.

"I lived in the camp along with my family, but I never gave up on judo. I traveled to Peshawar daily to the Qayyum Sports Complex, where a teacher trained judo players," he said. "I am now preparing to participate in the international games in Dubai later this year."

Between 2010 and 2014, Shinwari said, the government focused on reviving sports activities in FATA, especially in Mohmand, Bajaur, Kurram and Khyber agencies.

"There are no sports clubs available in the whole of FATA for the players of tribal areas. Players use their own areas as playgrounds for different games, or they come to Qayyum Sports Complex in Peshawar for sports practice," Shinwari said.

"The government approved construction of a sports complex in Shah Kas area of Khyber Agency at a cost of 1.2 billion rupees [$11.8 million] back in July 2013, but the project never saw the light of day owing to lack of interest by the government," he said.

The planned stadium includes cricket and soccer fields, a multipurpose hall with volleyball, basketball, squash, tennis and badminton courts, a hockey field, swimming pool, gym, table tennis and martial arts facilities, along with a boys' hostel, a mosque, cafeteria and media center, Shinwari said.

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The FATA administration constructed a stadium in Khyber Agency in 2007 at an estimated cost of $98,000 in which various sports facilities have been built over time.

The stadium now has cricket, soccer, volleyball and long race facilities, said Qaiser, adding the agency is becoming known for producing top players in a range of disciplines.

Since 2010, FATA players have shown tremendous progress in all sports, Shinwari said.

"We have organized intra-agency tournaments in Bajaur, Mohmand and Khyber agencies that attracted a huge number of spectators," he said. "The government also wants to discourage militancy and terrorism through promotion of sports. But no real work has been done in this regard."

Shinwari said female FATA players had immense potential, but lack of facilities hampered their desire to represent their region at the national level because they were unable to practice.

Validation of Shinwari's claim that FATA youth can excel in sports despite long odds can be seen in Qaiser's case.

By 2013, the teenage judo practitioner had joined the national team and won a gold medal. In 2014, he played in the National Games held in Islamabad again, winning two bronze medals.

This year, Qaiser represented his agency in the first Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace Games, held at the Qayyum Sports Complex in Peshawar.

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At the games, in early June, 10,000 players from across FATA participated in the sports festival organized by the FATA Sports Directorate.

There were a variety of sports, including badminton, basketball, bodybuilding, baseball, cycling, karate, hockey, soccer, jujitsu, tae kwon do, volleyball, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting and judo.

The festival was the first of its kind for players in the tribal areas.

Khan said the event proved that FATA players were as talented as youth anywhere in the world.

"It is a great opportunity for us to dig out talented players and expose them to national and international sports competition," he told News Lens.

Back at the stadium, Qaiser was getting ready to practice judo, which he does for six hours a day.

"There are no sports facilities available for youth in my agency. A lot of talented players are going to seed because of lack of opportunity," Qaiser said.

Cyclist Muhmmad Nasseem Khan of Mohmand Agency said FATA people are very strong and energetic because the region is hilly, and life there is tough.

"There is no lack of talent in FATA, but the government should take serious steps and provide opportunity to these people by building sports facilities," Khan said.

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The people of FATA had fallen behind their compatriots in development because of militancy and army counteroffensives, he said.

"If the government provides playing facilities to FATA people, they would be not only far away from militancy, but they would also earn a good name for their country out on the world stage," Khan said.

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