On the evening of June 24, Amir Siraj went through his regular routine. After his evening prayers, 21-year-old Siraj picked up his football...
On the evening of June 24, Amir Siraj went through his regular routine. After his evening prayers, 21-year-old Siraj picked up his football kit bag and left for practice at a ground in Aadipora village in North Kashmir’s Sopore town where he lived.
There was hardly an evening he wasn’t on the ground. Siraj played for two local clubs – Jalal Sports A and Musa Junior. A midfielder who sometimes doubled as a defender, Siraj was well admired. “He was really well disciplined and respectful on the ground,” said Sajad Ramzan, a football player from Sopore. “He would listen to instructions without any question.”
Rouf Ahmad, Siraj’s teammate from Jalal Sports A, analysed his approach towards the game. “He was not after scoring goals,” Ahmad said. “Siraj’s logic was each and every member of the team should enjoy the game and have some time with the ball. If we were able to do that, we would score goals automatically.”
But when the keen sportsman and final-year student of Bachelors in Arts at Government Degree College, Sopore, left home at the end of June, his family had no idea that he would not return.
Exactly six months later, on December 24, Siraj and another man were killed in a...
