Cricket teams named after militants

A cricket tournament was recently played in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which had few participating teams named after militants like Aabid Khan Qalandars, Khalid Aryans and Burhan Lions. 

While Burhan has emerged as one of the most wanted commander of Hizbul Mujahideen over the past one year, Khalid was his brother who was killed in a security forces’ operation. Burhan had shot into prominence late last year after he uploaded pictures of his and his comrades on a social networking site. 

Several of 11 militants featuring in those pictures have been eliminated but Burhan remains elusive for the security forces. Many sports events, named after slain militants and separatist leaders, have been held over the past 20 years in different parts of Kashmir. 

Shaheed-e-Millat cricket tournament, organised in memory of Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq — slain father of Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has not become a regular feature of the cricketing calendar in Srinagar. 

However, this time the security forces seem to be concerned over the latest move. “If this practice is not nipped in the bud at the earliest, it can create a huge problem in the coming months and years in the state. 

The psyche of the impressionable minds is sought to be influenced by propagating militancy in the form of sports,” a security official said.