Meet ‘Hope Solo’ aka Afshan: Kashmiri footballer who shatters stereotypes
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Meet ‘Hope Solo’ aka Afshan: Kashmiri footballer who shatters stereotypes

She shatters stereotypes and battles stigma. The struggle of Valley’s football sensation, Afshan Ashiq, is a plot fit for any inspirational flick.

Post by on Saturday, March 20, 2021

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She shatters stereotypes and battles stigma. The struggle of Valley’s football sensation, Afshan Ashiq, is a plot fit for any inspirational flick.

Read this! Amidst staunch opposition from family, she refuses to give up football. Such is her ‘madness’ for the game that she refused permission, she sneaks from her house in Bemina, Srinagar, to land up in Mumbai for a trial selection. “After I failed to persuade my family, I left my house at the break of the dawn. It was Eid. My father kept calling me for the special breakfast. Over the phone, I told him that I had landed at Mumbai airport. I was left with no other option. “But I can’t leave my game. It’s my dream. I live for my dream’,” she told her father. “I knew that no one would have believed that I left for the game. People told my parents that I must have eloped with some guy. Still, I refused to give up,” she says.

However, Afshan got “instant fame” when a picture of her pelting stones on forces in Srinagar was all over the media, in 2017. The incident happened when, on her way to practice, she, along with her team of girls, got caught in protests. She says a police official misbehaved with one of the girls in the group, and “they had to react”. The 26-year-old has no regrets about what happened. “I stand by what I did that time. I have no regrets about that,” she says.

 

This braveheart from the strife-torn Valley has come a long way since. She represented J&K in Valley’s first-ever women football team, and has been coaching  girls to become professional sportswomen. She is a goalkeeper for several Mumbai clubs. All set, a biopic on her, Hope Solo, is in the works.

Excerpts from her interview Fozia Yasin:

Undeterred

As a student of Moulana Azad Women’s College Srinagar, I have always been a sportsperson. I played cricket, but switched in 2013 as I fell in love with football. I devoted my entire time to the game, inviting criticism and lewd remarks from the moral brigade. But nothing bothered me as long as I was on the field. Sadly, even my family didn’t support me initially. I remained undeterred. Gradually, two women at home, my mother and aunt, noticed my passion and supported me. But my real journey started the day my father, without bothering about the traditional mindset of the society, told me how proud he feels when people recognise him ‘because of his daughter’.

 

 

 

Kashmiri at Heart

 

Whenever I will get a chance, I choose to represent J&K. I am a Kashmiri first. I represented the J&K Women Football team in 2014 and participated in Indian Women’s League (IWL) in 2017. In IWL, I played the first round for the Mumbai-based PIFA Colaba. When I saw the first Women I-League Football team of J&K, CM’s XI, I got emotional and decided to represent my own team and played the second round from the CM’s XI. I have been keen on training girls from the Valley to take up the game. I know a lot of girls who are passionate and want to play, but can’t because of social stigma and lack of guidance. That is why I started to offer training workshops. But getting them enrolled as persuading their parents was a Herculean task. In 2014, I started my own club — Unique Football Girls. In the beginning, only three girls registered with my club, but eventually the numbers grew. I joined the renowned clubs in Mumbai including Premier India Football Academy (PIFA), under a two-year contract besides being associated with ‘Demelition’ in February 2018.

 

Hope Solo

The dream and inspiration to play and be part of the Indian squad comes from Hope Solo — the US soccer goalkeeper (two-time Olympic gold medallist and World Cup champion). My coaches called me Hope Solo, and it would boost my morale. I signed a biopic titled ‘Hope Solo’ produced by Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover and his son Sanjay Grover. The movie depicts my journey and struggle for my dream. It is directed by Manish Hari Shanker. While signing the movie, I made it clear that whenever something untoward happens in Kashmir,  I will raise my voice, no matter what. I also put a condition that Kashmir should be never portrayed in a negative light. I would say, girls need to listen to their inner voice and not silence it. They need to speak about their dreams. And decide what they want to achieve. Make their decisions firm.

 

 

 

Controversy

I, along with my girl squad, was passing through Pratap Park for a practice session scheduled at the TRC ground, Srinagar. There were several angry protesters. Some of them were pelting stones. A policeman approached us and started misbehaving and even abusing us. We repeatedly told him that we were not protesters, but sportspersons. Soon, he slapped one of my students. I could not take it and was compelled to hurl stones as a reaction to his provocation. It was my timely retaliation and I stand against the wrong. I was left with no other option. It didn’t take me much time to hold a stone in my hand. I was portrayed as a stone-pelter by the media and I tried hard to remove the tag. I just wanted to give a message that I was already a footballer and I didn’t become a footballer abruptly after that stone hurling incident.

 

 

 

Youth of Kashmir

If the government really wants peace in Kashmir, they should let the youth of Kashmir express themselves, initiate a dialogue with them and meet their genuine demands. People outside the Valley are not aware about the ground realities here as some section media are misleading them. I have selected sports as a medium to spread my word regarding Kashmir. Whenever I get a chance, I speak about the ground realities. I’m immensely sentimental about Kashmir. We shouldn’t mix sports and politics, both are different entities.

 

Keep Railing

Now parents are realizing the importance of sports and are even supporting their girls. Girls will start believing that it is socially acceptable to participate in sports, and with their confidence break down barriers that hinder their participation and growth. Sports should be made compulsory in schools. In other states, schools remain abuzz with sports activities, but in the Valley less than 20 minutes are kept for sports activities. School should initiate tournaments for girls. Also, Kashmiri youth must remain dedicated towards their game and shouldn’t get demoralized by impediments. To women, ‘Don’t leave your game for anyone; keep railing on your journey!’