Cricket teams named after militants in south Kashmir tournament

Local teams playing a cricket tournament in the restive Tral region of South Kashmir have been named after alleged militants. Sixteen teams took part in the tournament, out of which three teams, namely the Burhan Lions, Aabid Khan Qalandars and the Khalid Aryans have been named after militants who are from the region.

The Burhan Lions are named after Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a commander of the terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen. The cricket loving son of a local headmaster, Burhan had left to join Hizbul Mujahideen in 2010. He is now one of the most famous faces of militancy in the region.

The Khalid Aryans are named after Burhan’s brother, Khalid Muzaffar Wani who was apparently killed in an encounter by the Indian Army when he went to meet his brother in the Pulwama forests, which is a militant stronghold. The Aabid Khan Qalandars are named after Aabid Khan, a militant who died in an encounter in 2014.

An organiser said that the tournament had been organised by Khalid’s friends in his memory, but it was the first time that they had seen teams being named after militants. The names of the other teams drew inspiration from the Indian Premier League and the newly set up Pakistan Super League.

Burhan and Khalid’s father, Muzaffar Ahmed Wani, a local school headmaster was the chief guest at the event. He was greeted with loud cheers when he presented the trophy to the eventual winners, the Khalid Aryans on Sunday.

The tournament had been scheduled to end in the second week of April but got disrupted due to the shutdown in the Valley after the Handwara killings. The organisers had taken a call to not hold any matches during the shutdown in spite of having 31 matches to be played between 16 teams.

The two-month long cricket tourney was held at the Eidgah ground in Tral and was well attended by the locals. The organisers said that the Army and police had stayed away from the ground during the tournament to ensure a “peaceful tournament”.

The organisers added that they had initial apprehensions regarding the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the army interfering in the tournament, but good sense had prevailed and the tournament had been left alone.