K-P Dwarf Sport Festival begins Saturday

Around 50 players from across the province will participate in the event

NOWSHERA:

The K-P Dwarf Sport Festival will start in Pabbi, Nowshera on Saturday in which players with dwarfism will participate from across the province.

Matches will be held at the Pabbi Degree College in Nowshera district.

The festival is held each year for the past three years to promote healthy sports activities among the little persons.

District Sport Officer (DSO) Attiq told The Express Tribune that arrangements had already been given final touches. He said that the cost of the festival will be shared by district administration.

Football, cricket matches, tug of war, archery and other games are part of the festival. Around 50 players are participating in these games.

“These players are being paid a stipend of Rs3000 per day. Accommodation as well as food and even sports kits will be provided to them free of cost and they are being given pick and drop facilities too,” the sports officer said.

Initially the event was scheduled to start on Friday but later it was changed to Saturday as local people wanted to watch these matches too and the weekend was more suitable for the purpose. The players, however, will reach Nowshera on Friday, he added.

The festival was being organized with the help of K-P Dwarf Association and everything had been done to their satisfaction and local district administration is supervising it.

The president of K-P Dwarf Association Zardad Bulbul told The Express Tribune that in the past little people were completely ignored by society as well as government and it was a welcome development that for the past three years government had been organizing the sports gala for them.

“In the past we were denied sports opportunities but now it has changed as this government has been organizing sports festivals especially for dwarf players,” he said, adding that his community is faced with a lot many problems like they are not enrolled in education institutions or vocational training centers and government should solve this issue too.

“There are over two hundred dwarf people who are members of our association but a lot many are out there who hesitate to do so due to psychological issues and lack of trust. We are helping them to shove away their shyness,” said Bulbul.

“When you are ignored by society due to your physique all your life it is normal to develop such shyness,” he said, adding that sport festivals will help them overcome their shyness as well as de-stress but government should pay attention to the education of dwarf people to make them useful members of society,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2021.