That is why when you ask Amir if it dawned on him that barely two years after he competed in his first national meet, he has become the first para athlete from Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army to qualify for the Paralympics, the Junior Commissioned Officer wants to take you back to the starting point of his journey.
Aamir remembers the early days well. How after completing Class 10, he had to move out of his home village Damhal, which is around 10 km from the main town of Anantnag, for higher secondary education as there was no college in Damhal.
His father Abdul was a plumber, due to which the family had to face financial struggle.
In 2012, when the senior Bhatt learnt that an Indian Army rally was going to be held in the city, he urged Aamir and his brother to attend it and join the army. Aamir had his heart set on becoming an Indian Air Force pilot but decided to join the army on his father’s advice as doing so would give him a chance to realise his IAF dream.
But fate had something else in store. On March 7, 2018, Aamir, who was then a trained sniper in the Army commando team, was injured in a massive mine blast during a military operation in the Rajouri sector near the Line of Control. The impact of the blast was so severe that he lost the heel (calcaneus) and the talus of his left foot.
After surgery and two years of treatment and recovery, Aamir had two options to return to his original unit. Aamir recalls, “My commanding officer told me that with my sniping skills, I could either train others in the army, or sit in an air-conditioned office and do a clerical job.”
He did not hesitate to reject the second option, a decision that proved to be life-changing. When a new sniper rifle arrived one day, his commanding officer was very impressed with the first shot Aamir fired from it. “He told me, ‘Aamir, you have another option for your shooting career, that is para shooting’.”
And so, three years after his injury, Amir was inducted into the Army Marksmanship Unit at Mhow in Indore — the centre that has produced shooting talents like Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar and the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medalist Jitu Rai,
Although Amir began training to compete in the 50m rifle event, he was then advised to switch to the pistol team. Having never used a .22 pistol before in his life, he got back to work, practising for the 10m and 25m pistol events. Due to the suspension of competitions until March 2022 due to Covid-19, Amir competed in regional competitions, where he won a silver medal, followed by another silver at the national level.
Within eight months of competing in his first national meet, he had made it to the Indian team and made his international debut at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Changwon, South Korea in May last year, where he won a bronze medal in the P3-Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 Team event. Amir followed up that success with an individual silver medal at his second World Cup in Osijek, Croatia.
The biggest reward came at his first World Championships in Lima in September last year, where Amir, along with Rahul Jakhar and Nihal Singh, won the gold medal, resulting in India getting a quota for the Paris Paralympics.
Yet, Aamir, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree through distance learning at the Indira Gandhi National Open University in Delhi, does not measure his success only by his shooting accomplishments, which he has achieved despite adversity.
“There are two moments that give a lot of satisfaction to my father and me,” says Aamir, “First, at a time when no one from my village was interested in joining the army, I joined the army and then it changed the thinking of the people of the village.
“At that time I was only the second soldier from my village and now around 30-40 boys have joined various divisions. Even now, when I go home on leave, I encourage my friends and other boys I meet to join the Army. I tell them that the Indian Army will give them a platform to do whatever they want to do in life.
“The second emotional moment was when I won the gold medal at the World Championships where 55-60 countries participated.
“When I wore the gold medal around my neck and I saw the Indian flag flying National Anthem When I played this play, tears came to my eyes. These two moments made me feel that ‘yes, I am doing something good’.”
Aamir, who is part of the Reliance Foundation Athlete Scholarship Programme, is preparing for his first Paralympic Games, what goal has he set for Paris?
“First of all I want to see India top the medal tally. I want to see India win the maximum number of medals, including Aamir’s medal and hopefully return with a gold medal.”
If he succeeds, you can only imagine how happy Damhal will be!
