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Arab News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
From pavement to passion: Islamabad's young skateboarders push for recognition
ISLAMABAD: On a hot summer afternoon in Islamabad's F-9 Park, laughter echoed across the cracked concrete as teenagers cruised over curbs and kick-flipped their boards with casual defiance. For this small but growing community of skateboarders in the Pakistani capital, the pavement is a playground — and a protest. Globally, skateboarding has long been associated with youth culture. It is a sport that thrives in urban settings and offers young people a sense of identity, freedom, and creative expression. Since its rise in the United States in the 1960s, it has evolved into a global movement, now part of the Olympic Games and supported by thriving communities from Brazil to Japan. In this context, Pakistan is fertile ground for the growth of skateboarding — a nation of over 240 million people where nearly 64% of the population is under the age of 30. But the country does not officially recognize skateboarding as a sport. Its official game is field hockey but cricket dominates pitches, TV screens and public discourse. Other sports like football, badminton and volleyball enjoy some government support but skateboarding remains entirely on the fringes. 'There's not even one dedicated skate shop in Pakistan,' said Ali Hamza, a 21-year-old engineering student who founded Skate Pakistan, a grassroots movement using Instagram to grow and connect the local skate scene. 'It's still seen by many as a toy.' Hamza's Instagram page, started in 2021 'just to see if anyone else was skating,' soon connected him to others across Islamabad and beyond. Today, Skate Pakistan meetups attract 12–15 regulars, with larger competitions drawing dozens. Most participants are teenagers with limited access to professional training or gear, and the initiative is driven entirely by volunteers and enthusiasts, growing into a fledgling community of teens and young adults passionate about the sport and eager to see it taken seriously. Hamza's own introduction to skateboarding came through Hollywood films as a child. At the time, he assumed the aerial tricks were camera tricks. 'Honestly, I used to think it was fake,' he said, laughing. 'Like, how can a board that's not even attached to your feet fly up like that?' Curious, he bought a cheap board from a local sports shop in 2019. With no coaches or skateparks in Islamabad, Hamza turned to YouTube tutorials and online courses to learn the basics. 'My first day on the board, my father was holding one arm and my brother held the other. I was just praying I wouldn't fall,' he said. Fall he did and repeatedly. But with each tumble, he said, the fear wore off. 'The more I fell, the more this fear lessened.' While Pakistan has a few modest skateparks — including one in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, and another set up with German NGO support in Karachi in 2020 — most skateboarders still ride on sidewalks, underpasses, or abandoned lots. Security guards at parks often ask them to leave. Potholes, rough terrain, and broken pavement pose daily hazards. But the lack of infrastructure and support hasn't stopped the community from growing. 'I mean, it's fun, it's something physical, you're out with your friends, so why not?' said Hasaan Khan, 16, a regular at the sessions held in Islamabad's F-9 park. 'Skateboarding builds up your endurance, since you keep falling over and over again,' added Rija Mughal, also 16. 'It's pretty good for your physical health too.' BUILDING A MOVEMENT For many, skateboarding took off during COVID-19, when lockdowns closed schools and sports grounds. 'I found an old skateboard at home during COVID, had nothing else to do, so I started riding around,' said Ahmed Ali Rana, who was 13 at the time. 'It just clicked.' Rana said he was nervous at his first Skate Pakistan competition but was surprised by how welcoming everyone was. 'That's the best part. It's not just about the sport, it's about the friends and the community.' Zayan Nadir, another teen skater, said skating gave him a mental escape: 'It helps people get away from their problems. But to build a bigger community in Pakistan, you need more skate shops, more skate parks, and more freedom for skaters.' Currently, there's no national or provincial skateboarding federation, and the Pakistan Sports Board does not include the sport in its list of recognized disciplines. In contrast, neighboring India has had multiple international skateboarding events and boasts over two dozen skateparks, including some that cater to underprivileged youth. The inclusion of skateboarding in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games also helped raise its profile globally, particularly among younger audiences. Yet, in Pakistan, there is little official recognition, funding, or visibility. Hamza said public perception also remained a big hurdle. 'There's still this idea that a skateboard is a toy, not a sport,' he said. 'That's what we are trying to change through social media.' At a recent meetup, teenagers practiced ollies and kick turns on a concrete ramp while others filmed slow-motion footage for Instagram reels. There were no referees, no medals — just scratched boards, scraped knees, and smiles. Hamza said the goal now was to push for formal recognition and better infrastructure so more young people across Pakistan could skate without obstacles — literal or social. 'We just want people to see that this is serious,' he said. 'It deserves space, support and respect.'
Express Tribune
02-06-2025
- Express Tribune
Seminary student raped
A 12-year-old madrasa student was allegedly raped while a woman thwarted a rape attempt on Monday. A 12-year-old seminary student, a resident of Sultan Town, was lured by the accused Ali Hamza and Nasir alias Nasri. They took him to a room where they tortured him and Ali Hamza subjected him to sexual abuse. In another incident, a man tried to sexually abuse a woman after he entered her house. However, the woman managed to thwart the attempt. After registering the cases, the police started efforts to find the suspects. Meanwhile, the Madina Town police arrested a proclaimed offender involved in a kidnapping for ransom case 10 years after the incident. According to the police, Sub-Inspector Muzaffar Ahmed Khokhar arrested the proclaimed offender Nasir, who was wanted in the case under sections 365-A and 365 PPC. Nasir was accused of kidnapping Ashar from outside his home and demanding ransom. The police utilised technical resources and conducted raids at various locations to apprehend the accused, who was eventually taken into custody. The CPO stated that special teams have been formed to arrest accused individuals in serious crimes and proclaimed offenders, and these teams are conducting raids to apprehend them.
Express Tribune
13-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Lack of storage facilities causes post-harvest losses
A high agricultural yield in a land-based economy would naturally be seen as a positive development. However, in the absence of modern storage, processing, and packaging facilities, surplus production leads to two unfortunate outcomes: either farmers are forced to sell their produce at extremely low prices, or the excess vegetables go to waste. After suffering losses in wheat cultivation last year, a large number of farmers in Punjab turned to seasonal vegetables, including peas, potatoes, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, garlic, carrots, and radishes. As a result of large-scale production, reduced local demand, and low exports, market prices for vegetables dropped to their lowest levels in five years, causing significant financial losses for farmers. Ali Hamza, a farmer from Bhasin, faced heavy losses when he cultivated wheat on 10 acres of land last year. This year, he grew seasonal vegetables such as peas, turnips, carrots, radishes, and greens on five acres instead. However, due to falling market prices, he suffered losses once again. 'I suffered a loss of Rs300,000 in the cabbage and carrot crops alone. Instead of selling the cabbage in the market, I fed it to my cattle as fodder,' said Hamza. Similarly, Mian Afzal, a middleman in the vegetable market, shared that the situation also impacted middlemen who had provided advance payments to farmers for planting vegetables. 'Farmers usually repay the loan after the crop is harvested. Now, they're not even earning enough to cover the cost of harvesting and transporting the crop to market. How will they repay the middlemen?' questioned Afzal. According to Dr. Anjum Ali Buttar, former Director General of the Punjab Agriculture Department (Extension), vegetable cultivation began earlier than usual this season, and favorable weather conditions led to increased production. 'Moreover, this year, vegetables—especially potatoes and cabbage—could not be exported from Punjab to Afghanistan, which increased local supply and drove down prices,' explained Dr. Buttar. Aamir Latif, a senior scientist at the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute in Faisalabad, a government body focused on vegetable research, agreed that increased supply had driven prices down. 'Last year, farmers did not receive fair prices for wheat, so this year they turned to alternative crops, with vegetables at the top of the list,' said Latif. Data from the Punjab Agriculture Department shows that this year, wheat was cultivated on 1.191 million fewer acres. There was also a decrease in the cultivation of gram and green fodder during the Rabi season. In contrast, vegetable cultivation saw significant growth, with the area under peas increasing by 1.18 million acres (64 percent) and potatoes by 1.18 million acres (15 percent). Similarly, onion cultivation rose by 10,800 acres (15 percent). Progressive farmer Aamir Hayat Bhandara pointed out that, because vegetables are perishable, their shelf life could be extended with modern processing, storage, and cold chain facilities. 'This would eliminate the need to rush produce to the market. Dehydrated vegetables are common worldwide as they remain fresh longer, but unfortunately, they are not popular among local consumers,' said Bhandara.
