Players from Afghan Football Club and KRL Islamabad fight for the ball as a huge crowd looks on in Chaman — APP photo.

KARACHI Cutting through the fog of terrorism enveloping the region, a group of amateurs screened a documentary entitled 'The Last Refuge of Afghans' which brought a message of peace and prosperity through football on Wednesday.

'There is so much anarchy and fighting in Pakistan and the region, but we believe that peace can be brought through football. And for that, town of Chaman in Balochistan and its football-loving people are best example.'

'The theme of this movie was [to] fight as hard [as] people want to, but on the field of football,' the producer of the documentary Khalid Hasan Khan told Dawn.com at Goethe-Institut Pakistan.

According to Khalid, Chaman was perfect example of showing how to live peacefully with tolerance for other religions and ideas.

Recollecting his observations during filming, the producer said while Pashtuns were known as feared tribal warriors always brandishing weapons, locals in Chaman were quite different.

'There are so many things about people of Chaman. But to sum up I truly believe they are quite different to the people in the north. They (Chaman locals) are peaceful and peace-loving people unlike other Pashtun tribes. There are misconceptions about the area,' he said.

The 20-minute documentary directed by M. Wasim, describes how team members from Pakistan's Afghan Club from Chaman were caught by the Taliban a few years ago while playing a match against a local outfit in Kandahar. The Taliban shaved the heads of the Pakistani players for playing in an 'un-Islamic dress' (shorts) and then deported.

However, Mohammad Saeed, the secretary of the Balochistan Football Association (BFA) claimed in the documentary that later local politicians apologized for the incident. The BFA official claimed that it was actually rival club members who were involved not the Taliban.

'You see there was no animosity or agitation among the people of Chaman for the Afghans or Taliban across the border even after the incident. And this shows how tolerant they are,' said Khalid.

The producer said the title of the film (The Last Refuge of the Afghans) came about since the people of Chaman also called themselves Afghans.

'Chaman has abundant talent in soccer and we have players in our national team from this area. We want to show that it is only football which is now the last refuge for Afghans which means all Pashtuns either from NWFP, Fata, Balochistan or Afghans who have migrated from Afghanistan to Chaman.'

Abdul Qayyum Khadakoo, founding member of Afghan Club, argued that Chaman had always been a peaceful region with people displaying both tolerance and a deep love of football.

'I agree that Afghans who have migrated from Afghanistan wanted to interfere in our lives. But we told them in clear terms that please do not interfere in our system. They (Afghans) dominate our businesses but we don't have any objection. We live in complete harmony,' he told a jam-packed audience.

Qayyum says unlike other tribal areas, people in Chaman do not display weapons, nor is it likely to find drug peddlers or drug addicts on the streets.

'Chaman has its own importance. Although there is an impact on the region because of geo-political situation, Chaman is a channel for supplies for the German and other (Nato) troops into Afghanistan. This shows how peaceful is the town,' he claimed.

Former Balochistan sports minister Lt-Col Younis Changezi lamented that although there was huge soccer talent in Chaman, there was hardly facilities for the sport.

'We have given Pakistan football top players from Chaman, but there are meager funds, lack of infrastructure and facilities. I can assure that if given proper attention Chaman and the province can produce top class players.'

Dr. Markus Litz, the director of the Goethe-Institute Pakistan also spoke while presenting welcome speech.