Alienation of youngsters can cripple the development of a nation. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is a beautiful state of India which, regrettably, is in the news for all the wrong reasons from time immemorial.

Afshan Ashiq is a resident of J&K who represents the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state. The biggest grouse held against many of the young minds is their so-called "hostility" against the state. In fact, the notorious stone pelters of the valley have brought shame and disrepute to the youths of the state because a lot of them are perceived to be young men and women.

The photograph of Ashiq was recently published in the valley's social media and newspapers as a stone pelter who targeted policemen on the afternoon of April 24. People were ruffled because Ashiq was thought to be a girl with a difference. Indeed the 22-year-old footballer is a gutsy girl with loads of honesty and transparency which are exemplified by her words and deeds. Afshan Ashiq is truly in stark contrast to her visual image. Ashiq, who is now busy shaping and defending the image of the J&K women's football as its skipper and goalkeeper, is hell-bent on providing a new direction to the team.

She is relentlessly in the spotlight ever since she took to football. The girl is filled with remorse for her "old behaviour". That apart the "mistaken identity" factor of the state police also says a lot about the ways of some policemen of the valley. However, Ashiq is doing what suits her best, and is a shining example for other youngsters of the valley to follow suit. In today's Kashmir, sport is one factor which can tremendously act as a unifying factor for our youth to build upon as well as a diversionary factor for them to keep afloat. 

In this regard, it is heartening that both J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh have assured Ashiq of all help in her ambition to form a sports academy in the valley. There are other sportspersons too who have shone in their disciplines much to the discomfiture of terror perpetrators who cannot digest the integration of youths into the mainstream society. Their primary aim to keep the valley in an eternal state of primitiveness may no longer materialise with more and more educated men and women coming forward to express their free views on issues galore.