PESHAWAR:The week long Friendship Football Cup that just concluded at Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar, has highlighted strong bond of interfaith harmony in Pakistan by bringing players of religious seminaries and minority youth on single play ground to compete for championship.
For spectators, it was also a unique moment to see youngsters of different faiths embracing each others as mark of sportsmen spirit and friendship after completion of the matches.
The tournament was jointly organized by the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, Khyber Pakhtubkhwa with the objective of portraying real face of Pakistan where people of different religions are living in mutual co-existence and in an environment of friendship and fraternity.
A total of six teams participated in the Friendship Football Cup, three from religious seminaries and three from minority youth.
The final was won by Daral Uloom Taleem ul Quran which defeated Krishna Club Nowshera by 3-0.
The spectators of the final match were also a mix of people from different faiths, reflecting true spirit of harmony and honor by congratulating each other over results.
“It was a unique experience, Friendship Football tournament not only provided us the opportunity to play with students of religious maddaris, but also bring us close to each others, making us friends,” observed Bacha Gul, Captain of Krishna Nowshera representing Hindu community.
Talking to reporter, Bacha Gul said majority of the youth from minorities are in the influence of reports portraying students of religious seminaries as extremists, but the opportunity of interaction with them removed misconceptions.
Bacha insisted on holding of such tournaments for other games, providing opportunities to more people from both sides to come closer and get the opportunity of understanding each other.
Expressing his comments after winning the tournament, Qari Sohail, captain of Darul Uloom Quran team said minority youth are like our brothers and this can be materialized through holding of such events.
He also appreciated Youth Affairs and Sports Directorates for providing opportunity to students of religious seminaries of participating in tournaments.
“The tournament will play an effective role in portraying the message to world that minorities are enjoying independence and equal rights in Pakistan,” comments Wazir Zada, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Minority Affairs.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the tournament, the provincial minister appreciated the efforts of Youth Directorate and Deeni Maddaris for arranging such a unique and meaningful event.
The KP government, he continued, is signing a contract of holding minorities conference for which an amount of Rs. 30 million has been reserved.
He announced that the government has decided to celebrate three festivals each of every religion at official level with the objective of showing solidarity with them.
Representing Religious Madaris, Maulana Hizbullah told reporter that the objective of the event was to shun the misconceptions about our country and portray the strong bond of interfaith harmony among our people.
He said the students of religious seminaries are joyous while playing with the minority youth and the tournament has given an opportunity to make friendships with them and they can remain connected through social media.
He demanded to hold such events on regular basis and arrange tournaments of other games as well for bridging gap between Muslims and minorities.