North Kashmir s’ Baramulla district is lucky to have some of passionate pigeon lovers who not only do pigeon fancying but also have been taking part in pigeon competitions.
Among them is Waseem Ahmad Bala, a resident of Azad Gunj Baramulla who has been associated with pigeon keeping over the past 15 years and has 200 pigeons.
Earlier this year, he won the first position in pigeon competition organized by Pigeon Association Baramulla, an association of pigeon lovers, and won a prize of rupeesone lakh.
“The association has been at the forefront always of organizing the competitions and people also join the event for entertainment purpose,” he said.
Commercial pigeon farming is a very easy and profitable business but the 31-year-old does it for passion.
Another pigeon lover is Javid Ahmad from Baramulla town who was interested in keeping pigeons when he was 11-year-old as his cousins were also rearing them.
“I brought some pigeons and reared them for some 2 to 3 years. But we had lack of space at home and I stopped. But once we constructed our new house, I again brought some pigeons. I have constructed a separate space for the pigeons,” he said.
In 2017, Javid started participating in pigeon tournaments in the district. In the very first year of participation, he got third position in the competition while in 2020, he got first position.
This year, he also bagged the first position in the second tournament of Baramulla Pigeon Association and won a cash prize of rupees 60,000. “It is a passion and every pigeon lover wants to show the pigeon rearing to other people,” he said.
Javid said pigeon loving also involves to have a teacher from whom one can get guidance and advises about how to rear the bird.
“Once seen as a hobby of the working class, pigeon racing has gradually managed to climb up the social hierarchy in India. People like businessmen and other professionals are becoming involved across the world,” he said.
Javid said there was a time when pigeon racing was largely limited adding that over the past few years, many youth have started their rearing at their home.
“Many fanciers, who are mostly men, also involve their families in the sport and share their passion with loved ones. Many enthusiasts inherited the sport from previous generations,” he said.
Javid said pigeon rearing is an interesting activity and keeps one away from all the social evils like drug addiction and other activities.
He also said that there were some youth who were involved in illegal activities but once they started rearing pigeons, their life got transformed.
Javid opines that government should also promote the pigeon rearing and competitions and give the youth chance to take part in UT, national and international level tournaments.
President Pigeon Association Baramulla Altaf Hussain said that the association was established in 2000 and it has a membership of 30 pigeon lovers across different parts of the district.
The association has been organizing pigeon competitions or pigeon racing over the past years in which all the pigeon lovers take part with great enthusiasm and love.
This year, the association organized two competitions which received a huge public response.
“Earlier such competitions were not held. When the association was formed, then only we started competitions that are held between June-July,” he said.
Pigeon racing has been described as the sport with a single starting gate and a thousand finish lines. The time taken and distance are recorded and the fastest bird is declared the winner.
“Racing usually starts at 6 am and goes on till the pigeon comes back to its perch. Referees decide winners and adjudicate disputes, if any,” he said.
Before a flight, the judge attaches stamps on the feathers of the selected pigeons, and then watches the flights through binoculars until the pigeons return.
Altaf, a government teacher by profession and pigeon lover by passion, said the birds are watered and fed nutritious meals at regular intervals and much groundwork is laid for a race taking place in the skies.
Having 300 pigeons at home,he said the association had been promoting the breeding of pigeons and many passionate youth are getting involved in it.
