Cricket Brings University and Madrassah Youth Together

There are a number of misconceptions that are associated with both the Madaris and the Universities of Pakistan. However, if you look carefully students who belong to both the streams of education have more similarities than perceived. However, unfortunately the focus on differences has led to a number of misunderstandings as a result of which both parties rarely interact with one another.

Mindful of the aforesaid, a group of students from South Punjab and another group from Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) decided to collaborate and use cricket as a tool to bring university and Madrassah youth together.

With the financial support of Pakistan Youth Change Advocated (PYCA), initially cricket matches were held in the city of Multan and Muzaffarabad between different local teams comprising of players belonging to Madaris and Universities. Next a team of top performers from Multan and another one from Muzzaffarabad was finalized for a final play-off in Islamabad.

The university and madrassah youth together now had a unique opportunity of playing as one team for a cause – to ensure a victory for their city) and this rare chance of communicating with another. Moreover, since both regions are nearly 700 kilometers apart, the activity also helped in bridging the communication gap that lies between the students of Multan and AJK.Throughout the event both sides displayed an excellent team spirit and members from both teams admitted that their stereotypes had little to do with reality.

As expected it turned out be a hard fought game and even though Multan was able to clinch victory by one-wicket; the real winner was peace!