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Dressed in a black Chador, Shahana Fatima Zargar turned a lot of heads at the Wankhede Stadium press box on Sunday, the first day of Ranji Trophy opener between Mumbai and Jammu & Kashmir. A woman in veil is not a regular sight at the stadium. She appeared with great command over English language and carrying the Chador with élan.

Make no mistake. She is not those very rare Ranji Trophy fans who will come and watch the match at the stadium, but Shahana is the media manager of the J&K team. Having a travelling media manager for a Ranji Trophy team is not a norm, but J&K seems to have started a trend of sorts.

Shahana covers herself from head to toe at home with only eyes to be seen, but in Mumbai she chose to wear only a black Chador. “Since I will be interacting with a lot of people here I have chosen to wear only a Chador. It is important not to cover your head and hand hence this will help me,” she said while watching J&K players dominate the domestic powerhouse on the opening day.

Shahana was appointed as media manager by Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association’s working committee in May this year. Her role is not restricted as the media manager but also a mediator between the players and the association.

Shahana, who has done investigative journalism course and holds MBA degree, impressed the JKCA authorities while writing on the game in the state. “I would follow the game keenly, the boys knew me for last two years as I would write articles in my magazine. A day after the JKCA appointed sub committees in their working committee I was surprised reading my name in the media committee in the newspaper.

I thought it would be great if I accept it,” she said. “I am a mediator. I take the grievances of the players to the association. Apart from that I also handle the media part of it. J&K cricket have gone through some of the toughest times as far as the game is concerned. Everyone knows we lack in infrastructure, the scams that we went through in 2012 and other stuff. This year’s flood has only made it worst. I have been asked not to let players get into controversies when they speak to the media and rather concentrate on the game,” Shahana said.

Shahana hopes the situation gets better from here for the boys. “The BCCI has promised that they will help us improve the facilities that were destroyed due to the floods. We want the best for our cricketers. They have also promised us to give JKCA the funds that amount to close to Rs80 crore once the case 2012 scandal case is over,” she said.

It is Shahana’s first visit to Mumbai who is accompanied by her younger brother. “It is a lovely city. Here people are into their own. They don’t care about what others are doing. My parents are conservative hence they have asked my brother to accompany me. I feel safe too when he is around,” she said.

The 1988-born Shahana is also an editor of a sports magazine — Sports Unlimited, J&K’s first sports magazine by a woman. “People first questioned me when I came out with the idea of launching a sports magazine in J&K. My parents supported me, but my father said he doesn’t have money to help me. I some how managed to arrange funds through friends and cousins and registered the title. Even the person at RNI (Registrar Newspaper of India) asked me if I am serious about launching a magazine. When I want something I don’t go back on it,” she said.

Even though Shahana is the media manager of JKCA she isn’t afraid to write about it. “That is my job. If something is wrong I write about it,” she added. A J&K player too acknowledged her efforts. “She is our mediator. If we want to convey our message to the association we tell her since we can’t go directly,” said the player.

By doing all this Shahana wants to prove a point to the world. “I want to achieve something in life. I want to be an example for other Muslim women. If I have a goal to achieve something so can you,” she concluded.

Wasim Khalid

Handwara: He claims to have buried over ‘1,000 martyrs’ during the past 15 years, served jail in 2008 for taking part in pro-freedom protests and was almost booked under the Public Safety Act. Yet, says Parvaiz Tantry , those are exactly the reasons why he voted for the first time in his life on Tuesday.
“I am a diehard azadi supporter,” 36-year old Tantry, head of the five-member committee volunteering for the burial of militants at Jannat-ul-Firdous martyrs’ graveyard, Handwara, said Tuesday. “I along with other committee members have been only burying dead rebels during the past 15 years. How can I forget them?”
“But we have been facing lot of oppression. I was jailed in 2008 by police for participating in pro-freedom demos. I was beaten and tortured. There was nobody to help me. The police was planning to book me under the Public Safety Act (PSA).”
Tantry said his father knocked the doors of a local politician seeking his release. The politician initially refused, he said, but finally agreed to help him. “I realized that I needed the blessing of a powerful politician to escape from the ‘zulm’ (oppression),” Tantry said.
“Today I voted for the same politician in this election,” Tantry said. “I know election is detrimental for the Kashmir cause. But I am helpless.”
Tantry, who teaches in a private school, said he and his four colleagues have buried 1,000 mutilated bodies in the martyrs’ graveyard. “I remember when we would receive burnt bodies of militants; sometimes we buried limbs only and sometimes broken skulls. It was terrible,” Tantry said. “We have taken the job of burying rebels voluntarily. We would collect animal hides on Eid-ul-Azha and zakat money to perform the last rites of the dead. Many a time army came and threatened us not to bury the dead militants in our graveyard. We resisted. The bodies, mostly unidentified, were probably of rebels who had come to fight to liberate us. How could we have abandoned them?”