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LANDI KOTAL: It was a rare occasion for the entertainment-starved tribal people to gather in hundreds and watch a cricket tournament in militancy-hit Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency.
“I saw such a big gathering at a playground of the area after five years,” said a local. Forty two teams took part in the Peace Cricket Tournament, organised jointly by Fata Secretariat and a local peace committee in Bar Qambarkhel area.
The tournament continued for almost five weeks and concluded on July 26 without being hampered by any act of violence.
Keeping reputation of its name intact, the Tsunami Eleven beat Jan Khan Club in final by a convincing margin of six wickets before it achieved the set target of 96 with three overs to spare out of the total 20.
The entire Bara tehsil, almost half of the whole Khyber Agency both in term of area and population, has not seen such a sporting gala since December 2004 when the outlawed militant organisation Lashkar-i-Islam was formed by a firebrand cleric Mufti Munir Shakir.
“Bara residents avoid such gatherings owing to fear of sabotage acts and the ongoing military operation in most parts of the region,” said Bazar Gul, a political activist from Shalobar area.
He said that it was a rare sight to see local players attired in colourful sports uniforms and playing cricket in front of hundreds of cricket lovers.
Khiyal Mat Shah, a resident of Bar Qambnarkhel, said that though militants had not placed ban on sports yet at the same time they were not encouraging such healthy activities.
“Militant organisations want Bara youth to join their ranks instead of taking part in sports,” said Jan Afzal, another local.
Militants, on a number of occasions, flogged young players and shaved their heads publicly when they were found playing at the times of prayers.
Militant organisations had made it obligatory upon Bara residents to offer prayers five times in mosques alongside wearing caps and refrain from uploading musical ring tones in their cellular phone sets.
The youth were also barred from participating in any type of recreational activities.
Zahir Shah, member of the local peace committee and one of the organisers of the tournament, said that such activities could help local youth to stay away from illegal armed bands and groups of outlaws, if organised on regular basis and assisted by the local administration.
He said that the successful culmination of the cricket tournament gave a clear massage to the people living outside Fata that tribesmen were peace loving and wanted to show to the world that they were not sponsoring terrorism.
