Call it a coincidence steeped in irony. The controversy over Valley Muslims dominating Jammu and Kashmir’s Santosh Trophy squad comes just when a web series showcasing the inspiring story of the region’s only I-League football club has drawn a heartfelt response countrywide.
The Sony Liv series, Real Kashmir Football Club, underlines not just Kashmir’s passion for football and the injection of professionalism into the game there — key to the Valley’s dominance in the Santosh selections — but also its syncretic culture.
The show draws on the “true story” of how two friends — a Muslim and a Hindu — formed the Real Kashmir Football Club in 2016 and beat heavy odds to turn Jammu and Kashmir’s first professional soccer outfit into “a competitive national team”.
Days after the show’s December 8-9 release, Rightwing politicians and social media users in Jammu erupted in protest at the composition of the 20-member Santosh Trophy team, which an official said included 19 players (all Muslim) from the Valley. Two football coaches involved in the trials put the
number at 18.
Sports minister Satish Sharma has ordered a probe into the selection process.
The controversy has left journalist Shamim Meraj, the co-founder of Real Kashmir, surprised. He said the web series offered a window to how Valley footballers go through the grind and provides answers to those looking at the selections through a communal prism.
“Let this debate be settled once and for all. I suggest Jammu and Srinagar play two matches. One match could (have) a fluke (result)…. If Jammu defeats Kashmir (over two matches), perhaps there’s something wrong with the selections,” Meraj told The
Telegraph.
Meraj, a Kashmiri Muslim, had teamed with Sandeep Chatoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, to form the club. The characters of Sohail Mir and Shirish Kemmu in the series are based loosely on the duo. Sandeep died young in 2023.
“We were friends. Religion was no (barrier).... I needed money and he had money,” Meraj said.
Meraj, who left the club in 2020, said eight to nine members of the current Santosh Trophy team had played for Real Kashmir. “It’s because they are professionals and play round the year,” he said.
“Kashmir football is miles ahead of Jammu’s. Kashmir football is known by the Real Kashmir Football Club. It’s the aspiration of every player here to play for the club.”
Meraj said the series offered a fresh look at Kashmir, “which is not political, not violent and which
is human”.
“It’s the best thing that has happened to Kashmir in a while. It has a message on Kashmir as a place,” he said.
This year has been difficult for the Valley with the hounding of Kashmiris across the country following the Pahalgam attack and the recent busting of a “white-collar terror module”.
Meraj is happy at the release of the series but is likely to give it a miss.
“For four years of my life, from 2016 to 2020, I did nothing but live this club. So many memories are attached to it, mostly good. It’s difficult to go through that process again,” he said.
He said that leaving the club was a personal decision, but “nevertheless painful”.