When the rest of Kashmir was living under a fear of unrest on the first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, a bunch of enthusiastic cricketers from the sensitive south Kashmir were busy playing the final match of the Indian Army-sponsored Sher-e-Kashmir inter-village tournament in the Hizbul Mujhadeen poster boy’s home district of Pulwama.

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Sixteen teams of the highly-sensitive and militancy-infested district participated in the tournament organised by the 55 Rashtriya Riffles (RR), from July 1 to July 8. The tournament was held despite high alerts due to the ‘hartals’ and programmes arranged by the separatists to commemorate Wani’s death.  

The tournament finals, which coincided with Wani’s death anniversary, went smooth despite heightened security and lock-downs across the valley.

“The game organised amidst calls by separatists, reflects the increasing trust and confidence the locals put in the Armed forces — desirable and warranted to bring peace and tranquillity in the valley,” said an army spokesman.

However, the day didn’t pass by without any hiccup; stone pelters tried their best to play spoilsport. Two bikes and a cricket kit of one of the teams were seized by the stone pelters when they were on their way to the match ground.

“Two of our players were intercepted by the youth and two bikes were seized. Our cricket kit was also taken away by the youth who had blocked our way. Only 10 players could reach the ground. But, somehow I arranged for two more players to join us on the field,” said the organiser of one of the teams.