Ishaq Ali
The Balochistan’s Hazara community and football are intertwined with each other. Due to the continued terrorist attacks on the community, the people in one or other ways are traumatized and are isolated from other communities of Balochistan as they are made to live in barricaded walls surrounded by security check posts. The other communities are not allowed to visit the Hazara localities on the plea of security issues, while Hazaras cannot go to other localities due to the continued fear of becoming the prey of target killings. The community, particularly the youth, pursue sport activities, particularly football, in their limited locality because they have immense interest in the game.
Now unfortunately, the future of sports and football, in particular, looks bleak in the community owing to the lack of grounds and government interest. The only football ground in the Hazara populated area ‘Hazara Town’ that has a population of approximately half a million, is closed as the land was owned by a person who now intends to build residential apartment on the said ground.
Despite the interest of the community in the said game and its contribution to the country’s sport activities, the government failed to allocate funds or build a public football ground or sport complex in the much populated area. The area is totally neglected in the development schemes of the previous and present governments. As per the statement of Naimatullah Mazhar, The Chairman of new formed Hazara Sports Action Committee (HSAC), former PPP-MNA Syed Nasir Ali Shah Hazara announced a grant of Rs. 50 million for the ground during his PPP government which, unfortunately, has not been released yet and there is no possibility that this grant would be released in near future. Mr Shah and Secretory Sports Mr Asmatullah Kakar also visited the site of the ground the previous days but in vain as just the other day, the HSAC taken out a protest rally for the reopening of the ground.
With the closure of the only football ground, there are high risks that the youth of the community would pursue unpleasant and negative activities and further add up to the already increasing number of drug addicts, which will welcome diseases like lung cancer, heart attack and TB, etc. According to news on July 2015, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control told that around seven million people in Pakistan were drug addicts, while 700 people died every day in the country due to drug-related complications. Briefing the committee, the then DG Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Maj Gen Khawar Hanif said that drug-related deaths were greater than those caused by terrorism – the later killed 39 each day compared to the 700 deaths from drug addiction every day.
Federal and Provincial Governments, Pakistan Sports Board, Pakistan Football Federation, Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and other sport organizations and committees should immediately take notice of the issue and allocate some grant on urgent basis to purchase the said land or make other arrangements for sports ground. This would not only keep the youth away from unpleasant and negative activities but also encourage them to pursue the footprints of their Pakistani Heroes, like veteran Qayum Ali Changezi, Captain Ali Ahmed Hazara, Taj Junior and other footballers and become the pride of the country.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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