Football Bringing Pleasant Change In Troubled Kashmir

It was a tense day in Srinagar on Republic Day after a series of grenade attacks in various parts of the valley and a major encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar. But less than 500 metres from Shere-Kashmir Cricket stadium, the venue for the Republic Day parade, there is an island of happiness. At the TRC Turf Ground, football is turning fear into hope. Welcome to 'Snow Leopards', the Real Kashmir football club -- the young players of RKFC have taken everybody by surprise and Indian football by storm. Just three years after coming into existence, making it to the prestigious I-League was in itself a major achievement and no one had ever expected that the club would defeat giants like Mohun Bagan and other strong teams in the I-league.