Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, Apr 14: Notwithstanding the promises made by the State Government with regard to promotion of sports and games in nooks and corners of the State, the Government’s only multipurpose sports facility (Playfield) in the City of Temples namely Maulana Azad (MA) Stadium is busy in hosting a mega ‘Musical Show’ leaving thousands of sportspersons in the lurch.
One fails to understand as to what sort of demon forced the authorities to provide MA Stadium to the organizers for holding Musical Show in peak sports season, despite the fact that the Court has restrained the custodians of the Stadium for allotting it to Non- Sports Organizations.
“Recent allotment of MA Stadium for Jammu Mahotsav, as part of the Baisakhi Festival has deprived thousands of sportspersons from their preparation for National Level events. The budding sportspersons are not in a position to use MA Stadium for 4 to 5 days, which will certainly hamper their preparations as they have to reschedule their training programme. The only multipurpose Stadium is in shambles and the custodians did not even adhere to the directions of the Hon’ble High Court,” said Dr Ashutosh Sharma, General Secretary Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association.
Sources said that the organizers of Jammu Mahotsav had approached Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council for grant of permission to hold the mega musical event within its premises, adding that the Council authorities refused to give them permission because of the Court directions, however, the organizers threw the Court directions into the winds and managed to use the facility for a series of musical evenings.
When contacted, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, J&K State Sports Council said that he did not issue any letter of permission to the organizers, despite they applied for the same more than once.
He further said that he simply adhered to the directions of the Court Orders for not allotting the Stadium to any non sports organization. He, however, said that it is the Sports Officer/Manager of the Stadium who issues the final permission letter.
When contacted, the Sports Officer said that the higher authorities advised us to provide the Stadium to the organizers after probably clearing all the obstacles with regard to the Court directions and allied formalities.
“It is a shame on the part of the organizers to hold a musical gala at the time when our soldiers are shedding their blood at the borders and becoming victims of not only gruesome, brutal or barbaric but also satanic designs of the separatist forces,” said a sportsperson from an Army background while expressing anonymity.
Are the musical stars from outside the State more important for us than our budding sportspersons is a million dollar question?
On the one side, the State of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Sports Ministry is focused to promote sports and sportspersons in the State and is striving hard to carve a space on the Country’s Sports Map, and on the other side, Government’s Tourism Department is busy in organizing a musical extravaganza in its only Sports Stadium.
Expecting good show from the sportspersons of the State at the higher levels in this uncongenial sports atmosphere is simply to flog a dead horse.
Let’s hope noble sense prevails all around.
Meanwhile, good number of Sports Associations including their parent Association namely Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association (JKOA), parents and sports enthusiasts have shown grave concern over the highhandedness of the authorities and termed it against the sporting spirit and the Sports Policy of the State.
Some heads of the Associations while talking to this Correspondent gave vent to their feeling and said that they feel pain and agony over this scenario, but are hapless to tackle it in the scheme of things in J&K.
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