Mohammad Yasir Receives Hero's Welcome In Rajouri After Asian Under-15 Boxing Gold
Today, as 14 year tribal boy retuned with a gold medal from Tashkant, the border town burst into celebrations. Yasir was garlanded and carried on shoulders as crowd marched on the streets to celebrate the rare victory.
- Mohammad Yasir won gold at the Asian under-15 Boxing Championship in Uzbekistan
- Yasir is a 14-year-old from Rajouri, J&K, who faced poverty and homelessness
- His father died when Yasir was six, and their home was bulldozed in an anti-encroachment drive
It was a hero's welcome to Mohammad Yasir as he reached home after winning the Asian (under-15) Boxing Championship in Uzbekistan. As hundreds gathered in Jammu and Kashmir's border area of Rajouri to welcome the champion and celebrate his success, the victory of winning a gold medal is a new chapter in the life of the 14-year-old after facing abject poverty and homelessness. Yasir is working as a part-time cook in Rajouri to earn a living. His father died when he was just six years old. But the tragedy for his family didn't end there. A year after they lost their sole breadwinner, the family was rendered homeless after their modest dwelling was bulldozed during an anti-encroachment drive by the J&K government.
Today, as the 14-year-old tribal boy returned with a gold medal from Tashkent, the border town burst into celebrations. Yasir was garlanded and carried on shoulders as the crowd marched on the streets to celebrate the rare victory.
Yasir says he would have ended up on drugs because of neighbourhood influence if it had not been for boxing. A local boxing coach, Ishtiyaq Malik, was instrumental in transforming his life amid the struggle to manage daily meals.
"I have received training for the last three years under Khelo India from my coach Ishtiyaq Malik. It's due to his support and guidance that I have been able to excel," said Yasir.
And it was a strange way how Malik noticed Yasir's talent in boxing. The boy who was getting water for boxers at the local stadium had a brawl with a local boxer after he refused to pay him Rs 15. The brawl literally changed his fortunes as the coach who was watching from a distance sensed Yasir's rare gift for boxing. Malik says the sport helped Yasir and his brother to stay away from falling into drugs in a neighbourhood infested with addiction.
After being uprooted from their home and ancestral village during the "anti-encroachment drive", Yasir, his mother Naseema, and brother and sister ended up at the one-room accommodation at an industrial training institute in Rajouri. Here, living amid strangers, the impoverished children could have fallen into the hands of the drug mafia. But Naseema, who works as domestic help in the area,
started sending her children to a playground instead of allowing them to move around in the neighbourhood.
"Yasir is an exceptional boxer. His life is a story in itself. He is from a very poor and homeless family. But he braved all odds and worked with dedication to achieve this remarkable feat," said coach Malik.
Within three years of training, the teen has proved his mettle in the ring. After winning gold at the Asian Boxing (under-15) Championship, Yasir says his dream is to represent India at the Olympics.