Youth Agency and Social Transformation in Jammu and Kashmir: Sports, Capability Expansion, and Institutional Integration

Irshad Ahmad Bhat (Research Scholar, Politics & Governance)

The evolving story of sports participation in Jammu and Kashmir signifies an important yet rather neglected facet of the region’s broader socio-cultural development. Jammu & Kashmir, primarily viewed through the perspectives of violence, conflict, security, and political uniqueness, has recently undergone a twin process of institutional normalization and youth-led social reconfiguration, particularly noticeable in the domain of sports. The increasing public visibility of young athletes from the region on nationally significant platforms indicates an incremental expansion of opportunity structures and a rising integration of mainstream sports institutions with talent from historically marginalized and peripheral backgrounds.

Over the past decade, and more markedly in the last few years, sports expansion and participation in Jammu and Kashmir has expanded both quantitatively and qualitatively. Government released statistics disseminated by the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council and other departments reveals extraordinary levels of youth participation. Almost 2.7 million young people in the Union Territory (J&K Sports Council, 2025) played structured sports during the years 2024–25. Comprehensive annual estimates indicate that over 6.1 million participations were documented in a single year, signifying not just initial involvement but also sustained engagement across tournaments, training programs, and multi-tier events (Department of Youth Services and Sports, J&K, 2024). Previous data demonstrating participation numbers above 53 lakhs further corroborates that this tendency is persistent rather than sporadic (Government of Jammu and Kashmir, 2023). Given the UT’s demographic data, these numbers reveal profound integration of sports initiatives in both rural and urban settings, indicating that sports have evolved from a peripheral activity to a recognized social practice.

This surge in numbers has been matched by a large increase in the number of athletic disciplines. In the past, winter sports like skiing and ice hockey were what made the region’s athletes unique. Now, people also play cricket, football, badminton, martial arts, fencing, water sports, and para-sports. This diversification is fundamentally a significant parameter. It gives young people with different physical abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, and geographic regions additional choices, while also bringing Jammu and Kashmir closer to national and global competitive domains. Official records show that over fifteen thousand athletes from the Union Territory participated in national and zonal tournaments during a recent annual cycle, winning medals at both the national and international levels as per J&K Legislative Assembly Records, 2024).

These results reveal not only increasing participation, but also competitive consolidation and institutional maturity. From a theoretical standpoint, this transition can be constructively viewed using Pierre Bourdieu’s notable idea of capital, particularly social and symbolic capital. Sports engagement in Jammu and Kashmir is rapidly acting as a tool for youngsters to collect symbolic capital in the form of recognition, legitimacy, and visibility within nationally sanctioned domains of competition. Qualitative expansion of professional leagues and national tournaments transforms athletic ability into social recognition, reshaping local value systems. What was once marginal is now legible and validated inside dominant institutional frameworks, allowing youth constituencies from the region to rethink their social status and renegotiate their social positioning (Bourdieu,1986).

This structural transformation has been instrumentalized by institutional and government sports interventions. The sports culture of the region has been massively revolutionized by the incorporation of Jammu & Kashmir into national sports development initiatives, prominently through programs such as Khelo India. The establishment of numerous small Khelo India centres throughout districts has facilitated decentralized access to professional coaching, equipment, and organized training. These initiatives have been enhanced by dedicated Khelo India State Centres of Excellence concentrating on disciplines such as fencing, rowing, and canoeing.

J&K Sports Policy 2022, has institutionalized athlete support at the Union Territory level through scholarships, financial incentives and recruiting provisions, integrating sports into wider frameworks of youth welfare and employment generation. Investments in panchayat-level playfields, indoor halls, and community sports facilities have expanded organized sports from urban centres to rural and semi-rural communities, greatly democratizing access.

In addition to institutional measurements, the socio-cultural ramifications of this sports-driven transition are notably pronounced. A recurring narrative in public discourse posits that civic and professional opportunities for Kashmiri youth particularly Kashmiri Muslims within India’s mainstream are diminishing. Evidence from the sports world makes this claim more complicated and irrelevant. Sports function as overt, performance-oriented domains where inclusion is realized by quantifiable success rather than verbal declaration. In this domain, sports are in proximity with Amartya Sen’s capability approach which emphasizes the expansion of real freedoms and opportunities rather than symbolic inclusion alone. Participation in sports boosts human capabilities—physical, social, and institutional—by allowing youth to select, compete, and aspire inside previously inaccessible frameworks (Sen, 1999)

Hailing from Baramulla, 28 years old Aqib Nabi’s ascent and induction in the Indian Premier League is particularly significant for analysis in this broader context. His connection to a nationally known cricketing platform that competes with others shows that the region’s cricketing processual movement has changed a lot. Cricketing pathways have consistently been informal, fragmented, and impeded by insufficient exposure. Aqib Nabi’s presence diminishes the perceived distance between local fields and national stadiums. Aspiration has evolved beyond a mere concept; it is rooted in experience and acknowledged by society.

This transformation has changed the culture of cricket in Jammu and Kashmir in diverse ways, starting at the very bottom. Firstly, it expanded the qualitatively aspirational domain of young cricketers, promoting heightened dedication to training, fitness routines, and technical rigor. Second, it has changed the way local validation systems work, moving the goalposts for success from local recognition to meeting nationally standardized performance standards. Third, and most critically, it has rearticulated meaning within local social dynamics. In a region where youth identity has often been mediated through political binaries and polarization, cricket offers an alternative grammar of self-worth rooted in competence, discipline, merit, and achievement. Through a Bourdieusian lens, Aqib Nabi’s story converts individual athletic capital into collective symbolic capital and reshaping how Kashmiri youth imagine their place within national hierarchies of recognition.

The cultural effect of this public sphere’s prominence goes beyond only athletes who want to be one. Families are starting to see cricket and sports in general as good ways to grow as a person and go forward in society. In response, schools and colleges are putting more resources into sports facilities and coaching. At the same time, local cricket associations are under increased pressure to make their selection processes and training settings more professional. In this way, individual representation acts as a catalyst, speeding up changes in institutions and cultures that might have taken longer to happen otherwise. Even though structural limits still exist, especially when it comes to infrastructure and long-term exposure, the story changes from “exclusion is inevitable” to “exclusion is possible,” which makes sports a bigger part of the region’s social imagination. The timing of this transformation is also of considerable importance. It coincides with a period of heightened political sensitivity around wider societal identity, inclusion, and youth alienation in Jammu and Kashmir. In such contexts, A. Sen’s emphasis on expanding substantive freedoms becomes especially relevant. Sports provide a domain where young people exercise agency, make choices, and achieve recognition without mediation by political identity alone. For policymakers, sports investment serves multiple objectives: youth engagement, social stabilization, talent development, and normalization of participation in national institutions. For society, it reframes regional identity in terms of capability and contribution rather than grievance alone. The cultural ramifications of this acknowledgement transcend prospective participants. Families are progressively acknowledging sports as valid pathways for personal growth and societal enhancement. Educational institutions are increasingly dedicating resources to sports infrastructure and coaching, while local cricket associations face growing pressure to professionalize their selection processes and training environments. In this context, individual representation serves as a catalyst, expediting institutional and cultural transformations that would have progressed more gradually.

Despite persistent structural limitations, especially concerning infrastructure and continual exposure, the narrative shifts from the inevitability of exclusion to conditional potential, thereby embedding sport more deeply into the region’s social awareness. The timing of this transformation is also of considerable importance.

This coincides with a time of increased political sensitivity regarding identity, inclusion, and youth empowerment in Jammu and Kashmir. In these situations, Sen’s focus on enhancing substantive freedoms is particularly pertinent. Youth can exercise individuality, make decisions, and recognition through sports without regard to their political identification. Policymakers can achieve a number of goals by funding sports, including involving young people, fostering talent, stabilizing society, and normalizing participation in national institutions.

By emphasizing on people’s skills and contributions instead of just their complaints, it’s changing how people in the region see themselves.

The growth of sports participation in J&K illustrates that the region’s social and institutional development story has changed in a big way and with proof. The evolution of sports participation in Jammu and Kashmir signifies a substantial and evidence-based change in the region’s social and institutional development. Government-supported statistics indicates continuous rise in young participation, diversification of fields, and enhanced national representation. This transition can be perceived as a redistribution of symbolic capital and an enhancement of substantive capacities. The rise of individuals like Aqib Nabi demonstrates how personal success may realign communal ambitions, reshape local cultural interpretations, and contest established narratives of exclusion. Although sports cannot address profound political and social issues, their function as inclusive, meritocratic, and forward-looking arenas is becoming increasingly apparent. With ongoing institutional commitment and inclusive policy formulation, sports might become a robust foundation for youth empowerment, socioeconomic mobility, and mainstream integration in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Government of Jammu and Kashmir. (2022).

Jammu and Kashmir Sports Policy 2022. Srinagar/Jammu: Department of Youth Services and Sports.

Government of Jammu and Kashmir. (2023).

Economic Survey of Jammu and Kashmir 2022–23. Srinagar: Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council. (2025).

Annual Sports Participation Report 2024–25. Srinagar: J&K Sports Council.

J&K Legislative Assembly Secretariat. (2024).

Starred and Unstarred Questions: Youth and Sports. Jammu/Srinagar.

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