SRINAGAR, July 16: Excitement turned into tragedy for a twelve-year-old boy in Kashmir on Sunday when he was beaten up by police outside a sports stadium where he had gone to cheer at a much awaited soccer event.
One among India’s premier football teams, Mohammadan Sporting Club Kolkata, arrived in Srinagar on Friday and played a goodwill match with the Jammu Kashmir eleven yesterday, an attempt to give a boost to the sport in the region which has borne the brunt of a conflict for twenty years.
With violence declining, sports activity is picking up in the region, where tens of thousands have died.
The host team won the match by 5-2 goals, but the boy missed the excitement as he was injured in the head.
Shahid Manzoor says he was waiting in a queue outside the stadium “excited about the game” when he was beaten by police with batons.
“My father had entered and it was my turn when the policemen closed the door. I got scared. When I tried to rush in, one of the policemen thrashed my head with his cane and I fell on the road bleeding,” he said.
Shahid’s father, Manzoor Ahmed says his son was eagerly waiting to see players in action and had worked hard to get tickets for the match.
“I thought he had an entry pass and they would let him in. I was waiting for him inside. But When I went out looking for him I saw blood flowing from his head and he was being taken inside a vehicle,” he said.
The angry father immediately brought his son to Press Colony – where most of the media offices are put up – to show the “inhuman attitude of the government”.
“Just ask them what his crime was,” he said.
The incident happened in spite of the fact that the authorities had issued a circular ordering government schools to compulsorily send their students and staff to be part of the audience at the football match.
