Terming the physical activities of the youth as a necessity for their mental and physical wellbeing, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Wednesday said young men active in sports and physical activities were likely to possess better intellect and shine more in formal education as well as in other fields of the life besides having an improved health condition.Inaugurating the annual Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by MRCC at the historic Eidgah, the Mirwaiz while addressing the sports men and sports lovers, who were part of the audience, said besides participating in sports they should try to excel in all fields of life including education, culture, artisanship and should develop a strong moral character based on Islamic values in order to prepare themselves for the service of the nation.He said organising tournaments for different sports was a welcome development considering that this becomes instrumental in utilizing their time in productive work rather than wasting it in useless activities.
The Mirwaiz regretted, it was unfortunate that places like Eidgah and its adjoining areas had become a den of criminal activities and social evils but the police and state administration instead of dealing with the elements involved in such activities was busy in finding means to harass the people and put curbs on the genuine peaceful activities of the resistance leadership in order to stop them from raising their voice against the atrocities committed on the people.He said, by pushing the youth towards the wall they were being thrown into the menace of drug addiction and later tortured besides using inhumane ways to seclude them from the society and demoralize them.The Mirwaiz said it was the responsibility of the Muslim Waqf Board to ensure that the land of the Eidgah kept for religious purposes, while keeping in view the religious sanctity, is strictly utilized for religious activities alone while the portion of land meant for sports activities is used for sports and other physical exercise purposes.He said if the Waqf Board fails in its responsibility in keeping the sanctity and maintenance of the Eidgah, it should accept its failure and handover the entire Eidgah to the Muslims Population which would look after this in a better way. (KNS)