Shahid Afridi
Peshawar: For the first time in the history Inter-Madras Games got underway here at Peshawar Sports Complex under the aegis of Directorate General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. General Faiz Hameed was the chief guest on this occasion who formally inaugurated the Games wherein more than 800 students from various religious Madaras across merged tribal areas from seven merged districts including North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Khurram, Orakzai, Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur and six sub-district comprising Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Bannu, FR Lakki, FR Dera Ismail Khan, FR Tank are taking part in seven different Games.
Speaking on this occasion Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the first Inter-Madras Games in Peshawar lauded the efforts being put in by the organizers to involve the key segments of the society that are the students of religious Madaras. The participation of students of religious schools of tribal districts in sports is the real change and that is what we want to highlight the true picture of the Madaras to the world, Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed said.
Madrassa education is playing an important role in taking students forward, Corps Commander Peshawar said, adding, Madrassa is a parallel education system that connects people to religion.
The purpose of education is to make the youth productive members of the society and the religious Madaras are contributing vital to Pakistani society but through a viable system we want to bring them in the main pool so that their role could be enhanced accordingly, Corps Commander said.
One has to wonder whether madrassa students can become doctors and engineers, therefore, work has already been launched to bring them such opportunity, he said, adding, Madaras students could play their role on appropriate way because there is no dearth of talent among tribal youth either they are from Madrasa or from other education system.
Similarly, a young man educated from a university could become the Khateeb of a masjid but unfortunately, hearing the name of the madrassa today raises questions in the minds of the people, Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed said.
He said, it is necessary to create links between all education systems that we have like Urdu, English or Madaras so all students could equally be treated. Appreciating the Directorate General Sports for initiating such sports competitions that would certainly bring change to people’s minds regarding madrassas on one way and on the other the talent that existing in the students of Madrasa could get due opportunities at national and international level, Corps Commander Peshawar said.
At the time of establishment of Pakistan there were 230 madrassas and about 5000 students had been enrolled but today, we have more than 30,000 or more Madaras, which are providing education to more than 3.5 million students in the country.
Corps Commander Peshawar Faiz Hameed said that we want to promote religious schools and connect them with other educational institutions. He said taking steps by involving the students of the religious school would provide ample opportunity to the students to come up and exhibit their hidden talent in sports.
Madrassas have to be brought into the system so that no one can even think of eliminating or ignoring them, Corps Commander Peshawar said. “We are also considering setting up vocational training centers in madrassas,” he said, adding, students of religious schools should take a positive message from here to the rest of the world.
In his brief chat, Secretary Sports Tahir Orakzai highlighted the aim and objective behind holding of the Inter-Madaras Games. The initiative was taken by the KP government to involve children and students of various religious madrassas of the integrated tribal districts in healthy sports activities. Inter-Madrasa Sports Games are being played at different grounds in Peshawar in which players are competing in badminton, tug-of-war, athletics, volleyball and Qirat competitions at Peshawar Sports Complex. The cricket competitions will be played at Gymkhana Cricket Ground and football at Tahmas Khan Football Stadium.
Earlier, the ceremony was started with the recitation from Holy Quran by Qari Afnan, followed by the National Anthem and March Past of all the participating players of Madaras. For the first time in history, sports opportunities are being provided to the students of religious madrassas in the amalgamated districts.
A total of 25 students would take part in the Qirat competitions, 91 in badminton, 195 in cricket, 130 in volleyball and 208 in football, 20 players will take part in the shot put and 156 players in the tug of war. Director Sports Merged Area Pir Abdullah Shah, Director General Sports KP Khalid Khan and other high military and civil officials were also present.
