January 16
Insha, a South Kashmir girl shined brighter and managed to bring glory to the valley with a Gold medal, and proved the daughters are no less than sons.
Coming from a conflict bound region that is often in news for Encounters and cordon and Search operations, Insha Sitara has brought laurels to her family by winning the 55+ KG category from 64th SGFI National Level Belt Wrestling U-19 championship at Belagavi, district of South Indian state, Karnataka.
She says that it is tough to focus on your dreams, in a conflict region, when conflict is brewing on your head most of time. “But my dreams, my passion and my zeal for achieving my dreams, has been an inspiration,” she told The Kashmiriyat.
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Insha is a student of class 11th at Girls Model Higher Secondary in Kulgam.
The journey of this courageous wrestler has been hellacious, Her father is a labourer and mother a house wife. “I am from a poor family, but my parents have always been supportive, they have done everything they could to make me achieve whatever i have till date,” Insha told The Kashmiriyat.
The family had very little money. Her father’s salary could only cover the bare minimum groceries and the children’s school fees once they started growing up. “I used to be fascinated with wrestling even when I was a child. When the 2010 Commonwealth Games were taking place in India, I was watching wrestling on TV and suddenly it struck me that I should take this up as a career,” says Insha.
Fueled by the desire to escape poverty, Insha decided to start training at her school by the age of 11.
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People in the village were shocked that she wanted to take up wrestling. They told her father to forbid her from doing such a thing. But Insha did not let any of this stand in her way.
Her dreams took shape in 2013, when she her Physical teacher at School started coaching her.
Her hard work paid off soon as she won her bronze Medal at 63rd National School Games 2017-18 at (Hyderabad) Telangana. Since then, there has been no looking back.
She has won gold for Jammu Kashmir while contesting 14 other states in the championship held in Karnataka on 08 January. “Since my young age, i started practising at my home, the last year, i practised on my own at Indoor stadium of Bakshi satdium,” Insha told The Kashmiriyat.
Hailing from Pombai region of South Kashmir’s Kulgam District, which is lately turned into the hotbed of New Age Militancy, at times, Insha says it gets difficult to move out. “It gets difficult on some days. But I’m very focused on my goal. I’ve come a long way and I don’t want to give up now,” she says.
Abdul Satar Najar her father, laborer by profession speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that Insha has made both the parents proud. “Despite many difficulties she had, Insha never failed to pursue her dreams and I never stopped her. Daughters are Gods grace upon parents and today she has proven that,” Najar said.