Click to play videoRajouri, Jammu & Kashmir: Despite security concerns and tough living conditions at the Line of Control, rural sports are gaining popularity among the border forces and the locals.
Border villages of Rajouri often see cock-fighting, one of the many rural sports that are now being revived by the army in this border belt.
Colonel Ajay Sharma of the Dah Division said, “The local population used to have a heritage on cock fights, goat fights, wrestling. Over the years they had died down what we are trying to do is revive that culture.”
Traditional folk art is also being given a stage. The Army, along with the state cultural academy, is organising festivals like Virasaat 2007 to tap local talent. It's a change residents of these border areas were looking forward to.
Locals have welcomed these cultural and sporting activities.
Said Vimal Kumar, a resident of Khallsian Village, “Our elders tell us that there has been gun fire and attacks in these areas. We are glad that for the first time, we are witnessing a change like this.”
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, another resident of Rajouri agrees and is glad for the change.
“There has been violence and there is still some tension in these areas. We had lost hope for normal days,” he said.
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