SRINAGAR: When Padma Shri awardee martial arts coach Faisal Ali Dar started scouting for young players, he was shocked to find that most of the talented boys and girls had fallen prey to drug abuse in north Kashmir.
Heartbroken, he decided to change tack and focus on the de-addiction. A few years later, he has been able to help 390 youth and channel their energy toward positive things.
“It was beyond my imagination that drug addiction has crept so much into our society. I was trying to convince myself that it can’t be possible. But when I started delving deep, I found a deep rot. From 12-year-old to 25-year-old, everyone was hooked to drugs,” Dar told The Kashmir Monitor.
For a martial arts coach who holds the credit of training big players including World Kickbox Champion Tajamul Islam, sports took a backseat, and bringing youth back from this dangerous path became the foremost goal.
“Initially, I started visiting different villages to gather information. I roamed undercover to gauge the intensity. I saw students bunking classes and doing drugs. I saw boys beating up their parents for not giving them money for drugs. I saw desperate parents turning peddlers to save their children. It was a heart-wrenching scene,” he said.
Despite threats to his life, he approached imams, community members, and police to bring youth back from this dangerous path. “I succeed to a large extent, though there was a threat to my life as well. Youngsters started believing in me. It was a turning point,” he said.
Dar, who heads Ali Sports Academy in Bandipora, later started training youth in different sports. “A sportsman loves his body. He wants to remain fit. He wants to groom himself. So in that process, he avoids drugs and other things that harm his physique or fitness. That way I succeeded in instilling hope among the youth,” he said.
Dar has embarked on a new journey to create employment avenues for the youth. “I have been trying to explore the unexplored tourist destination in north Kashmir. I have held several festivals. Once tourists start coming to these places, it will generate employment. Youth will get engaged. Plus these areas are off the radar, and poppy and bung plants grow in wild. Once footfalls increase, authorities would clean up the area and destroy these crops,” he said.
