MUMBAI: When
Amir
Bhat represents India in the P3-mixed 25m pistol event at the Paralympic Games in Paris later this year, it will undoubtedly be a crowning moment for the 29-year-old from Kashmir in what's been an inspiring journey.
It's why when you ask Amir whether it's sunk in that barely two years after competing in his first nationals, he's now the first para athlete from Jammu and Kashmir, and the Indian Army, to qualify for the Paralympics, the junior commissioned officer wishes to take you back to the starting point of his journey.
Amir remembers the early days vividly. How, after completing standard 10, he was forced to travel outside his home village Damhal, which is almost 10kms from the main town Anantnag, to pursue his higher secondary education as there were no colleges in Damhal.
His father, Abdul, being a plumber, meant the family had to battle their share of financial struggles.
In 2012, when the senior Bhat learnt that an Indian Army rally was coming to town, he urged Amir and his brother to attend it and join the forces. Even as Amir had his heart set on becoming an Indian Air Force pilot, he decided to enroll in the Army, acting on his father's advice that by doing so, it could provide him with the gateway to his IAF dream.
Fate, however, had something else in mind. On March 7, 2018, Amir, a trained sniper in the commando team of the Army by then, suffered a nasty mine blast injury during a military operation in the Rajouri sector along the Line Of Control. Such was the impact of the blast that he ended up losing the heel (calcaneus) and the adjoining bone (talus) in his left foot.
Following surgery and a two-year period of treatment and recovery, Amir was faced with two options on returning to his parent unit. "My commanding officer told me that with my sniping skill, I could either train others in the forces, or take up a clerical job sitting in an air-conditioned office," Amir recalls.
He didn't hesitate in rejecting the second option, a decision that would prove life-changing. When a new sniper rifle arrived one day, the first shot Amir fired with it impressed his commanding officer. "He told me, 'Amir you have one more option for your shooting career, that's para shooting'."
And so, three years after his injury, Amir was recommended to the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, Indore - the centre that has churned out shooting talents like Olympic silver medallist
Vijay Kumar
and Commonwealth and
Asian Games
gold medallist
Jitu Rai
.
Though Amir started off training to compete in the 50m rifle event, he was then advised to switch to the pistol team. Having never used a .22 pistol in his life before, he again got down to work, practising for the 10m and 25m pistol events. With Covid-19 forcing competitions to be postponed to March 2022, Amir took part in the zonals, where he won a silver medal, followed by the nationals where he clinched another silver.
Within eight months of competing in his first nationals, he had earned a spot in the Indian team and would make his international debut last May at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Changwon, South Korea where he achieved a bronze in the P3-mixed 25m pistol SH1 team event. Amir built on that success with an individual silver in his second World Cup appearance at Osijek, Croatia.
The biggest reward would arrive at his first World Championships in Lima last September where Amir teamed up with Rahul Jakhar and Nihal Singh to win the gold, consequently earning India a Paris Paralympics quota.
Yet, Amir, who is also pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree via distance learning at the Indira Gandhi National Open University in Delhi, doesn't measure his success solely by his shooting accomplishments which have come against the odds.
"There are two moments that bring both my dad and me enormous satisfaction," Amir says, "Firstly, at a time when nobody from my village had any interest in joining the army, I joined and then it changed the thinking among the people in the village.
"I was just the second soldier from my village at that time and now there are around 30-40 boys who have joined in various divisions. Even now, when I go home on holiday, I encourage friends and other boys I meet to join the forces. I tell them that through the Indian Army, they will get a platform to do whatever they would like to in life.
"The second emotional moment was when I won the gold medal in the World Championships which had 55-60 countries participating.
"When I wore the gold medal around my neck and I saw the Indian flag rise as the
national anthem
played, I had tears in my eyes. These two moments have given me that feeling that 'Yes, I'm doing something good'."
As Amir, who is on the Reliance Foundation athlete scholarship programme, prepares for his maiden Paralympic Games, what goal has he set for Paris?
"What I'd firstly like to see is India sitting on top of the medal tally. I want to see India winning the most medals, with that tally including a medal from Amir and hopefully I'll return with a gold medal."
You can only imagine the delight in Damhal if he succeeds!
English (US) ·