The 'Christian' Footballer

On a cold November afternoon in 2011, two officials of Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) were walking out of their Srinagar office when they saw an inscription carved out of the dust that had gathered on the rear windshield of their car which was parked outside their office. On a closer examination, it turned out that some unknown assailants had issued a clear warning to the association. “You’re helping Marcos in spreading Christianity’.

This was one of the many sordid episodes which marked the stay of the Argentinean Football coach Juan Marcos Troia in Kashmir. Marcos arrived in Kashmir in 2007 with the purpose of coaching young football enthusiasts how to make careers out of the game. Instead, his stay in a deeply polarised society like Kashmir saw a number of turbulent episodes which pitted him not only against his rivals in the game but also the politics and religion in Kashmir.

Marcos came to Delhi in 2002 where he was looking for young people who were passionate about football for nearly five years. But his hunt didn’t lead him anywhere. He used to roam around the campus of Jamia Millia University where he accidentally interacted with Kashmiri boys. “They suggested me to go to Kashmir. I then contacted JKFA for the promotion of football in the valley and offered my service as a volunteer. The JKFA chairman was happy and asked me to come over. I packed my bags and left to Kashmir in April 2007” says Marcos.

After his arrival in Kashmir, Marcos formed a trust by the name of International Sports Academy Trust (ISAT) which was registered as an NGO in 2003. It is affiliated to Syndicate of Professional Football Coach, Sao Paulo, Brazil and recognized by SITREPESP, University of Ibirapuera, Brazilian Football Confederation and FIFA. 

In Kashmir, football is believed to have been introduced in the 19th century by Tyndale Biscoe, a British missionary, and was believed to be most popular game after cricket. The game received a boost in 1950’s when some clubs namely Friends Club, Gorkhas Team, Silk Factory and J&K Police Club were formed which led to the formation of JKFA in 1964. According to the JKFA, the state presently has 500 registered clubs with 12,500 players, coaches and other officials. more 

Jam them while you pray

In conflict zones like Kashmir the word Jammer was always coupled with Indian forces’ camps, VIP residences and their vehicles. But now cell phone signal jammers have entered the domain of civilian use. Jamiat Ahailhadees Masjid in Nowgam, believed to be the oldest and the biggest Salfi Masjid on the outskirts of Srinagar, became the first public place where a jammer was installed. 

This spacious mosque looks like any other from inside, but its exterior is decorated with tiles and Quranic verses on the rim (slab portion) floor after floor.  “When for the first time I heard a jammer has been installed in our Masjid, I was shocked and kept asking people how they made it possible because such things were only available to the elite, Indian forces and the state ministers,” said Haji Nazir Ahmad Bhat, 73, who went to the mosque to see the jammer for himself. For sometime doubted that they might have got it illegally with the help of government forces.” 

Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, the Imam who leads daily prayers, in the Masjid except on Fridays and during festivals, says the mosque administration felt a need to jam all the mobile signals inside because people often forget to keep their phones on silent mode despite placards advising to ‘switch off your phone’. A ‘mayhem’ used to start when during nimaaz phones used to ring and different songs, Hindi and English used to play, he complains. 

Almost a year back the Masjid authorities were installing a projector on the second floor of the mosque and they asked the projector dealer for suggestions to stop ringing of phones in the premises. Mohammad Yasir, a projector dealer had a Bangalore based Kashmiri friend, a technocrat who helped them in installing a jammer inside the mosque. 

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