Peace in the country is my only dream: Ghor Ice Man

FEROZKOH (Pajhwok): Abdul Raqeeb Farooqi, a Free-Style (FS) athlete in western Ghor province, who has invited many young people to peace and empathy through sports, says they can shine nationally and global only in a peaceful environment.

These days, social media pages are flooded with photos of the young man exercising in minus 22 centigrade in the Harirod River. The young athlete, Abdul RaqeebFarooqi, has been active in the FS sport for the past seven years.

Farooqi told Pajhwok Afghan News that he had invited many young people to peace and empathy through engaging them in sports.

He added: “In the sports directorate club, I have trained 250 individuals. In addition to the workout, I invited all of them to peace and currently hundreds of athletes are undergoing training in my private club.”

Farooqi is a resident of Wajan village in Murghab district, which is currently under Taliban’s control. Farooqi wished he could one day exercise in his native village, which has beautiful views and cliffs.

Abdul Raqeeb, 23, is a student of English Literature at Ghor University. He called on members of the peace negotiating teams to make peace for the progress of Afghanistan’s youth.

He said young people could develop their sports skills in peace and could participate in competitions abroad.

“Our only request from both sides is to reach an agreement and make peace; all people especially the youth and athletes, are thirsty for peace because peace is the guarantor of progress, and if there is peace, we can exercise properly and achieve our goals,” the young athlete said, addressing the government and Taliban negotiating teams.

“Recent insecurities as well as the outbreak of coronavirus have a negative effect on our sports activities, we can’t go out to exercise in the mountains and cliffs, coronavirus led to closure of sports clubs and we do not work as a team,” he explained.

Farooqi urged young people to join sports, believing that this way they could protect themselves against war and drug addiction.

Farooqi also talked about lack of facilities for the development of sports and said at present, Ghor athletes have no access to proper sports facilities and places.

About Freestyle sport, he said: “FS includes several sports, such as ice diving, rock climbing, winter mountaineering and snow practice.”

When asked how insecurity affected their sports programs? He said until two years ago, his colleagues would travel to remote areas to continue their training, but now due to insecurity they could not continue their favorite exercises and sports.

He added: “Freestyle is a sport that should be done in foothills and valleys, but unfortunately a year has passed we cannot go out at all, security problems have negative impact; none of our colleagues can go a kilometer away from the city.”

The athlete said security and peace in the country would enable them summit the famous mountains of Afghanistan in different provinces.

Jan Mohammad Haidari, a bodybuilding coach in Ghor, about Farooqi said: “Ghor province has strongest athletes, including Farooqi, who workout in cold weather and Harirod River in this winter, if Farooqi and other athletes are given the opportunity to play, they will undoubtedly be among the strongest athletes in the world.

sa/ma

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