In the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, many Kashmiri athletes have bloomed in the past decade. The love for sports in the youth of Kashmir has permitted them to become the rising stars of India.
Kashmir is slowly turning into a sports hub. In February 2024, the Khelo India Winter Games were held in Gulmarg, Kashmir, and over 800 athletes arrived in Kashmir to take part in the campaign. Also in March 2024, a Formula 4 car racing event was organized for the first time in Kashmir on the banks of Dal Lake.
Apart from successful male athletes, the girls of Kashmir have also developed a passion for different sports and traveled from the national to International level.
Enlisting some inspirational female athletes from the mountain-circumscribed valley, of Kashmir.
1) Tajamul Islam- Kickboxing
Born in December 2008, Tajamul Islam belongs to the Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. She is the first Kashmiri to have won a sub-junior World Championship at the age of only 7.
The Kashmiri kickboxer first appeared in the sub-junior National Kickboxing Championship, held at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, where she won against a 13-year-old opponent, aged 7. The youngest national kickboxing champion then in March 2016, became youngest to earn a gold medal in state-level Wushu Championships.
The seven-year-old kid didn’t stop there. The ambitious little kid then in November 2016, made it to the International platform. She was the first Indian to represent the country at the World Kickboxing Championship in Andria, Italy. She won six fights in five days in the under-9 category becoming the World’s youngest kickboxing champion at the age of seven.
Tajamul Islam kept practicing to participate in the Under-14 category. In 2022, she clinched another gold in under-14 category in the World Kickboxing Championship held at Cario, Egypt. The two-time World kickboxing champion is the campaign ambassador, of the Government of India’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative.
Islam has opened her own martial arts academy, mentoring hundreds of young girls in kickboxing.
2) Fiza Nazir – Martial Arts
Fiza Nazir, an athlete from the Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir is the gold medalist in martial arts. Last year, the young athlete bagged the gold medal in the senior women’s -56.7 kg weight category at the Asian MMA Championship 2023 (IMMMAF) held in Bahrain.
She has shown unwavering dedication and steadfastness in achieving the milestones in her scintillating martial arts career. The Kashmiri sportswoman now eyes on the World Championship to showcase her prowess on an international platform.
She was recently training at Phuket Fight Club and in a conversation with the club shared on Instagram, she spoke about her future plans. She said,
“For my upcoming fight, I am putting all the work to be where I want to be, where my dream wants me to be”
After a month in April 2024, in that fight at the MMA India Women’s championship, she ended up in second place.
3)Sadia Tariq – Wushu
Sadia Tariq was a 15-year-old kid when she won a gold medal for her country. She hails from the city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
Back in 2022, it was a time of the Russia- Ukraine war when she participated in the Moscow Wushu Star Championship. Despite being in the conflict zone without the network to communicate with her parents, she remained focused on her goal.
In the junior tournament of the Moscow Wushu Star Championship, the fighter won the gold medal for the nation. She recalled there were rumors on the final day that Russia is going to attack Ukraine but she buckled up and shook off the nervousness. In an interview with Firstpost she said,
“I was representing India, and I knew my duty towards my nation. I remained brave, gave it my all and won a medal for India. I wanted to return to my home as early as possible but not less than a Gold Medal.”
Praises and accolades followed as Sadia returned, making India proud. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the gold champion on X (formerly called twitter).
Sadia didn’t make it to the international level in a blink of an eye. She had won two gold medals and one bronze at the national level before reaching the bigger stage.
4) Fazeelat Aslam – Archery
A resident from North Kashmir’s Handwara district, Fazeelat brought laurels to Kashmir by winning the gold medal at the national level. In February 2024, the 8-year-old archer participated in the National Field Indoor Archery Championship.
The competition was held in Pune, Maharashtra. In a contest where more than 250 players took part in under 10 category, Fazeelat Aslam defeated the best across the country to clinch the gold medal.
Like Tajamul Islam, Fazeelat aims to represent India on an International level.
5) Pakeeza Qureshi – Wushu
Another Handwara girl from Kashmir is making her name in the sports. Pakeeza Qureshi is famously known as the ‘Karate girl’ in the valley. In 2023 September, Qureshi participated in Khelo India Wushu Women’s League 2023 held at Sher-I -Kashmir Indoor Sports Complex.
The young girl won the gold medal at the competition. Her performance at the contest qualified her for the nationals. She won six consecutive fights at the competition and lifting 60 Kg in the Junior Weight Category secured the young athlete, a gold medal.
Earlier also, she won two gold medals in Hyderabad nationals and before that a gold at a state-level competition as well. She has been coached by Aijaz Hassan.
6) Afreen Hyder – Kyorugi
Ranking herself among the top 100 female Taekwondo athletes in the world, Afreen Hyder is Jammu and Kashmir’s first athlete to win a silver medal in Kyorugi. She was born in Srinagar, Kashmir. Hyder has represented Jammu and Kashmir in national and international competitions.
She claimed her first ever national medal in 2010. Then fast forward to 2022, she won the silver medal.
She bagged the silver medal during the 39th National Senior Taekwondo Championship held at Guwahati, Assam in India. Although she lost her final round to Kerala, she won her first four fights. Her first fight was against Rajasthan, her second fight against Sikkim, her third against Madhya Pradesh and her fourth fight was against Madhya Pradesh.
At the 2023 Senior National Taekwondo Championship, she won a bronze medal. In the same year, she claimed another silver after losing the final match of the women’s under-67 kg category in the 2023 Goa National Games.
7) Jasia Akhtar – Cricket
The 36-year-old, Jasia Akhtar belongs to the Shopian district of Kashmir. Back in 2017, Akhtar became the first woman cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be selected for the national camp (Indian women’s national cricket team).
Since childhood, she had worshipped the cricketing legend, Sachin Tendulkar. Between 2003 and 2006, the young enthusiast played in the boy’s team for r under-13, under-14, under-15 and under-16 cricket.
The right-handed batter has played for Punjab, Rajasthan, and Trailblazers. Currently, she plays for Uttarakhand. The cricketer from Kashmir has given many scintillating performances in the T20s. She was the second-top scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy with 273 runs at a strike rate of over 139.
The year she was signed for Rajasthan, she captained the team in the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy. She led the team to semis and her score was 501 runs at a strike rate of 112.58.
8) Iqra Rasool – Cricket
The valley has produced another talent in the woman-cricketing arena, Iqra Rasool. Iqra hails from district Baramulla of Jammu and Kashmir and is famously known as ‘Baramulla’s supergirl’.
Her inspiration has been Indian top batter, Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s pacer Mohammad Aamir. Her journey started back in 2013, from the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
She has represented Jammu and Kashmir at the U-19 and U-23 levels. Rasool has represented her region four times at the national level- at Amritsar, Haryana, Goa, Himachal, and Jammu.
In 2015, Iqra Rasool was pivotal in playing in the Under-17 at Telangana where she took three wickets in the finals.
Then in 2017, Iqra Rasool’s dedication and prowess were appreciated at a session, ‘We The Women’. The Indian Women’s Cricket team’s captain, Mithali Raj presented ‘H.E.R.’ (Hope. Empower. Rise.) award to Iqra Rasool. H.E.R awards are given to those who have “shown remarkable excellence in their areas and have often taken risks, battled odds or rewritten the rules in pursuit of success”
Iqra Rasool wishes that one day she makes it to the Indian Women’s Cricket team.
9) Insha Bashir – (Wheelchair Basketball)
The epitome of passion for sports is reflected in Insha Bashir’s exemplary demeanor. Insha Bashir, the first wheelchair-bound basketball player is a resident of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.
She represented India in the US in 2019. The awe-inspiring girl has also captained the J&K Wheelchair Basketball Women’s team in 2019 at a National Championship. The young girl was also invited by the US consulate to participate in Sports Visitor Program.
She has won the silver medal along with her teammates at an International Basketball tournament held in Noida, Delhi.
In an interview with the local news channel of Kashmir, KNO, she said,
“My message to the other specially-abled persons will be that your disability isn’t the end of life, rather you need to be courageous to fight all odds and overcome challenges. If your one organ isn’t functioning, your brain is working and that is enough to dream and work on your dreams to make them come true.”
Insha also said that she had made the wheelchair, the wings of her dreams. Her aim is to represent India at the Olympics and wants to play at Paralympics.
10) Afshan Ashiq – Football
Sports like football and cricket have predominately been men’s domain in Kashmir. But Afshan Ashiq was enamored by the football and struggled to make her ways in the field. Her venture into football started at her college, Government College for Women (MA Road, Srinagar) in 2013.
Devoted and steadfast, Afshan Ashiq later represented her state in Women’s I-League. Currently, she is part of the Casa Barwani Soccer club Barwani.
The goalkeeper had struggled a lot during the times when Kashmir was considered a conflict zone. Her journey inspired Bollywood to make a movie out of it – “Hope Solo” directed by Manish Hari Shanker and produced by Gulshan Grover and Sanjay Grover.
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
