Sharing her inspiring journey, which includes the age-old perception of the Indian society, that only boys can participate in sports, ‘Baramulla’s Supergirl’, Iqra Rasool, Cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir today addressed young audiences at ‘The Youth Ki Awaaz Summit 2018’. The Summit is being organized by India’s by digital media platform Youth Ki Awaaz in Delhi.
“Ladkiyan Cricket Ke Sapne Kyun Na Dekhe?”, one of the important sessions of Youth ki Awaaz Summit, touched upon a wide range of issues faced by woman sportspersons in India. Sharing her journey hitherto, she said, “When I started playing cricket, sports was not considered a place for girls by the society at large. I wanted to change this belief and despite all the challenges I faced, I was selected to play U-19 at the age of 13 and U-23 at the age of 16 J&K women cricket team.”
She further added, “I am very happy that the mindset is gradually changing in Kashmir and parents are encouraging their daughters to join sports. In fact, there is one private cricket academy for girls only in Srinagar. I urge private players and the government to direct and motivate the youth of Kashmir towards sports”.
The opening day of the two-day summit brought together over many young thought leaders and changemakers from across the country to discuss key socio-political issues. It saw stimulating discussions and debates on critical topics such as caste-based discrimination; manual scavenging; afforestation in urban India through the Japanese method of Miyawaki; patriarchy affecting female police officers; life of millions of children on India’s streets without an official ID proof; implications due to lack of privacy; breaking stereotypes about disability, love and happiness; rampant fake news circulation; empowering young people to build a more gender-equal society etc.
The first day of the summit witnessed participation of over 1000 participants who came from different parts of the country.