Sports Saved Us: J&K’s Wheelchair Athletes say they are ignored, underequipped, yet unstoppable

Budgam, Dec 3: For most people in Kashmir, International Day of Persons with Disabilities means seminars, speeches, functions, and symbolic events.

But for Wasim Feroze Mattoo, President of the Jammu & Kashmir Wheelchair Cricket Association, the day is a reminder of something far deeper, how sports have transformed lives that were once drowning in trauma, depression and stigma.

Speaking to Greater Kashmir, Mattoo says the lives of hundreds of physically challenged youth in J&K have changed not because of government events, but because sports gave them a way to fight isolation.

‘Sports gave us confidence, dignity, and a way to escape trauma’

Mattoo begins by recalling how he himself turned to sports.

“When I was young, whenever I watched cricket, I would imagine myself playing. It refreshed my mind. Later I thought, if sports can do this for me, why can’t I create something for other physically challenged people so they also get a chance to play.”

He says disability brings depression, self-doubt, and constant reminders of what society thinks you cannot do.

“People told us, you can’t be a cricketer, you can’t play, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. This stigma destroys confidence before disability does.”

But sports, he says, dissolve that stigma.

“Many of our boys told me, Sir, take us to a place where nobody watches us because we fear people will laugh. But when they started playing, everything changed. Now they want the world to watch them.”

A story of transformation: from drugs to cricket to dignity

Mattoo shares the story of a young man with a spinal cord injury.

“When the injury happened, he went into depression. He started taking drugs, lost interest in life. But the day he joined wheelchair cricket, everything changed. He played well, became part of the team. Today he runs his own business and even donates Rs 200–300 every month to help new players. This is what sports can do.”

He pauses and adds, “Sports don’t just give a game. They give a life.”

‘But we are completely ignored’, minimal government support

Despite these stories, Mattoo says the government has “no role at all” in promoting disability sports.

“If we invite 20 officers for an event, barely two or three show up, that too after calling them three or four times. When they attend T20, volleyball, football… why not us?”

For eight years, Mattoo has been requesting wheelchairs.

“I met bureaucrats, officers. I only asked for 15 wheelchairs. Till today we didn’t receive even one.”

Most of the team play on old, broken or borrowed chairs.

A proper sports wheelchair costs Rs 30,000–35,000.

For athletes who mostly have no income, it is unaffordable.

“A normal person can spend Rs 2,000 from a Rs 10,000 income on sports. But for a physically challenged person, even Rs 500 becomes a burden.”

‘If sports becomes earning ambition, everything will change’

Mattoo believes disability sports in J&K can grow only if the government links it with jobs, career opportunities and recognition.

“If a physically challenged person represents the country or wins a national medal, he should get more preference in jobs than an able-bodied person. Give him a post, recognise his achievement. Then sports will grow automatically.”

He says many wheelchair cricketers have national-level certificates but no support system.

‘On this day, don’t give us speeches, give us opportunities’

For wheelchair athletes in J&K, December 3 is not about symbolic celebrations.

It is a day to say that while they fight stigma, trauma and physical challenges every day, the system still does not see them as athletes.

“If we get equipment, if we get recognition, if sports becomes a career, we don’t need anything else. Sports already gives us mental strength, courage and healing.”

Mattoo ends with a line that captures the entire struggle of J&K’s disabled sports community. “We don’t want sympathy. We want a platform. Sports gave us life, now give us support so we can give life to others too.”