In a bid to provide opportunities for school girls to showcase their talents, the Indian Army organized a Badminton tournament in Boniyar of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
Thirty-two girls from various Army Goodwill Schools of the Uri sector villages participated in this tournament.
The girls who participated lauded this initiative of the Indian Army which will help enhance their skills and said that such tournaments must be held regularly so that girls from remote areas of Kashmir Valley get chances to show off their talents at national and international levels.
"I represented my school AGS in the match. I won the match and I am really happy. Thanks to the Army for this. Everyone must participate in this, it is beneficial for everyone. A lot of girls are playing. It will help us make our schools and parents proud and this will only help us. This initiative by the Army is really good. 5-6 children from our school took part in the tournament and we won the final today. These programs must happen, it will only benefit us. There is a lot of talent that does not get chances, only the Army gave us the chance. It happened for the first time here," said Tufiya Fayaz, a player who won the Badminton finals.
Mehreen Mushtaq, another participant in the tournament, said: "I am a student of AGS Boniyar. Today, the Army's 25th Battalion organized this event for girls and I participated. I'm happy that my school won the competition. I encourage all the girls to participate in these events to show off their talents. It is very beneficial for our mind and health".
The parents and the school staff were happy with the holding of the tournament.
"I was also a participant today. Our school won and I am very proud of Tufiya that she won the trophy. I think more of such programmes must be held for daughters of Boniyar so that it motivates them and helps them show off their talents. This is the first time a Badminton tournament is being held in Boniyar and for the first time we have seen so much talent. If it keeps going, Boniyar will reach great heights," said Shafaq Lateef, another Badminton player.
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Baramulla District President Mushtaq Mir thanked the Army for the event and requested the administration that they should build an indoor stadium in the region.
"I am very thankful of the Army that they could make girls aware of such an event which helped our girls move ahead. I request the administrator that an indoor stadium must be here at any cost. I'll talk to the Governor regarding this too ," said Mir.
Harvinder Singh, the Sub-District Magistrate, Uri, Baramulla talked about the recently held sporting events in Jammu and Kashmir and the talent discovered through these activities.
"Kids here have a lot of talent. You have witnessed the Badminton matches. Volleyball matches are happening too. I have heard that kids here love cricket, I have seen kids playing sports while travelling in my car. I had a talk with the DC, he was there at Sopore watching a match, people's involvement in sports and the high-quality of talents in kids is quite visible," said Singh.
( With inputs from ANI )
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