In three feet of snow and freezing cold, Gurez’s border valley is making a lot of noise over cricket, which has been replaced by the rattle of bullets that have caused death and despair to its residents for decades. The laughter of cricket fans has poured into the snow and has apparently crossed the fence where Indian and Pakistani soldiers are stationed in a face-off, although the mood is gloomy today.
But now the stunning and snow-capped valley surrounded by high mountains is hosting three major cricket tournaments, including the biggest one, Markut. The village is a kilometer away – as the crow flies – from the border and the Pakistani gunmen’s firing range. Although cricket is a happy and common factor among archers, Gurez has also taken the throne for peace. Residents cut, shaped and reshaped an ice field from a huge ice mass and invited ten local teams to compete for a trophy.
“Thank Allah. Gurez reverberates with voices of peace and happiness. The boys are having fun,” tournament organizer Ghulam Mustafa told Gurez over the phone to News18. You can hear the noise of the boys who are cheering for their team. This place has come alive even in this bitter cold,” said the ex-serviceman, breathing heavily and pausing for words.
Mustafa and his team are the ones who design the snow turf, build the fixtures and organize a small amount of funds for the tournament. They also upload goods for promotion on social media. “Guess cricket videos are everywhere. Recently an Australian player also tweeted this. Our cricket tournament is being looked after,” he said, sounding excited.
Before the start of each match, Mustafa and fellow organizers filled the crushed patch on the pitch with ice, then watered its surface and waited for it to solidify. Finally, a mat is laid over the turf. Freeze flattens the surface. “The standards of the tournament are very good. The pitch is even. We use lawn tennis balls. We have marked the boundaries as per the rules and regulations.”
“I have been doing it for the past several years, but this time the tournament has become an excitement,” he said. Many youngsters refused to move from the inaccessible snow-covered area to the district center of Bandipur for the sake of LoC – the love of cricket. and Srinagar. Every year in winter, 165 km of the highway is cut off from the rest of the Gurez Valley due to heavy snow accumulation in various parts. Snowfall is maximum in the area near Razdan Pass.
Mustafa said that although many families migrate for movement from Gurez, others are stuck in the remote Tiliyal Valley for several months. Despite this, 300 youths come to watch the match. Some, he said, went through knee and waist snow to cheer for their favorite teams. Apart from Markoot, teams of Acura, Churwan, Kanjalwan, Davar and Baktor are also playing. Baktor, the Dhamaka on the LoC, and the banks of the Kishanganga river, which dips on either side of the fence, are also holding a separate tournament.
Resident Ejaz Gurezi said, “It is heartening to see the boys playing cricket in such freezing temperatures. Mustafa is happy with the transition that Gurez is turning into a safe destination with huge tourism potential.” , there were (cross-border) incidents of shelling caused damage. In 2019 also, there were incidents of some infiltration attempts. But in the last one year there has been zero incident in our area,” he said.
Since the ceasefire call by the two DGMOs last year, tensions between the forces facing Gurez, LoC areas and the international border have eased significantly. Otherwise a region that has been subjected to devastating fire from cannons for two-and-a-half decades, the sound of a bat hitting a ball is a joyous distraction from the lives of the people who live here amid infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations.
But Mustafa expects Gurez to be noticed for adventure sports like sightseeing, trekking and rafting. Murtaza Lone, who shows up to Gurez regularly, wants the hills to be exploited for skiing.
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