Emblems of empowerment: A spirited champion who’s building future talent
Part 15: Kashmir’s first international wushu medal winner Jabeena Akhtar, 34, is nurturing future sportspersons under her wing to bring more laurels for the country
Hailing from the remote Train village, situated in the foothills of tourist resort Gulmarg, Jabeena Akhtar says her desire to learn self-defence amid stone-pelting incidents in the Valley spurred her to pick wushu in 2008.
As she continues to champion the martial art nationally and internationally since, the 34-year-old is also cultivating young talent – having already trained over 1,000 boys and girls in wushu.
“I have taken hundreds of boys and girls under my tutelage, and I hope they will bring medals for Jammu and Kashmir, and the country in the coming years,” says Akhtar, who has set up training academies at several places in northern Kashmir without any government support.
At her maiden global outing in 2017, Akhtar won a bronze for the country at the International Wushu Championship in Armenia.
Continuing her medal run back in India, she secured a bronze at the 27th Senior National Wushu Championship in 2018.
Closer home in J&K, she had already brought in gold medals at the 13th and 14th editions of the J&K Wushu Championship in 2016 and 2017, respectively, before a bronze each at the 15th and 19th editions.
First post-graduate in her village
Akhtar is not only the first woman from Kashmir to get an international medal in Wushu, but also the first post-graduate from her village, giving younger girls in her area a female role model to look up to.
Nominated as brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padao campaign, the mother of a four-year-old girl, says, being a sportsperson in a remote village was never easy. “I couldn’t simply wear a tracksuit for practice and had to cover it up with an abaya (gown). Taunts were frequent, but I didn’t lose focus,” she says.
From cricket to wushu
Long before she learned the ropes of martial arts, Akhtar had grown up playing cricket, which she went on to pursue at the state and national level. “I was a cricket player and even participated in national events. While training in Ganderbal, where stone-pelting was frequent, I wanted to equip myself with self-defence skills. Wushu seemed interesting, and once I took it up, there was no going back,” she says.
Akhtar credits her success to three people – her late father, Hafizullah Sheikh, coach Kuldeep Handoo and husband Khursheed ul Alam, a government teacher: “I won an international medal only after getting married in 2016, and it wouldn’t have been possible if my husband didn’t have my back.”
Despite multiple medals under her belt, Akhtar hasn’t been able to land a decent job in the sports or its allied departments. Instead, she currently works in the social welfare department as an anganwari worker, where also she has won several awards and accolades for her dedication.
“I got the national award for exceptional achievement in child development by the Union ministry of women and child development in 2017-18,” says Akhtar, who holds a masters in physical education through Kashmir University, apart from a certificate course in nutrition and childcare.
“Whatever the shortcomings, I try to work hard and excel in my field. I am a sportsperson, so I am always ready to face challenges,” she says, smiling over young girls playing in her neighbourhood.