It has been two years since Munir (Ahmed) Dar, commonly known as chacha in the sports circles, left the fraternity in the oblivion. On June 1, 2011, right fullback Munir Dar, the hockey legend who also made name in other sports administrations left a big void. He was then 76 and is buried in a graveyard in Defence.
The visionary of the TanvirDarHockeyAcademy, Munir had loved sport all of his life.
Nothing fits better on him than the phrase, ‘winners are born but champions are made’. If one looks at his career as a player and then as an administrator, he was a few yardsticks above the champions notion. As a player he not only won several medals for the country but also transformed ordinary players and teams into champions.
Born in 1936 in Amritsar, the young Munir moved to Lahore in 1947. At his new home, he found a hockey stick and the life-long love affair started. Blessed with a very athletic and strong physique, Munir displayed all the attributes of a solid defender at the right full-back position. Moreover, he was a wonderful striker of the penalty corners. All this meant, he was soon on the radar of the national selectors and the 19-year old Munir earned a spot for the 1956 Olympics.
Being a player he won 1960 Olympics gold medal in Rome and two silvers (1956 Melbourne and 1964 Tokyo) and then trained is brother, Tanvir Dar to fit in his shoes. Tanvir, also a right fullback, was a member of the 1968 Olympic gold medal winning team. He also reigned supreme at the inaugural World Cup in 1971 where he was tournament’s top scorer with eight goals for the victorious Pakistan side. Munir also had gold and silver in the Asiad.
Later to fill the gulf he created after leaving the sport, his two sons Taqeer Dar and Taseer Dar were groomed but only the former made the big rank and was part of the 1984 Olympics gold medal winning team while Taseer, though standbye for those Olympics, fell pray to the game’s politics. Disheartened Tafseer, the third of Dar’s family, turned to the game of gentlemen and played first-class cricket for quite some time.
As a coach, Munir trained the Pakistan’s senior and junior national sides in 70s and 80s and as a police officer, he chaired the police sports board from 1985 to 1995. His tenure was seen as the golden decade of the police sports. The policemen won laurels not only at the national level but also made Pakistan proud at the Asian and world level. At the 1990 Asian Games, Ghulam Abbas won an athletics gold for Pakistan after 16 years – no one has won since. Yahya Butt and Mansoor Butt won the Mr Asia titles. The Pakistan volleyball team had a great run from late 80s to mid 90s when they were a potent force at the Asian level. A number of policemen featured regularly in the national lineups during that period. Munir was instrumental in raising the Asian style kabaddi team of police.
Again quite a few members of the police squad represented Pakistan’s national squads that won medals at the Asiads. From hockey, under Munir’s direct supervision the Police team won the National Championships in 1993 for only the second time; the first was way back in 1960 when Munir himself was a member of the team. In 1994, the green shirts won the World Cup after 12 years and the Champions Trophy after 14 years and the police team provided five players in the national outfits.
As president of the Pakistan Karate Federations, Munir was one of the greatest diplomats in the Pakistan Olympics ranks and was always asked to resolve some of the tedious issues faced by the National Olympics Committee. Munir was an institution in himself. Blessed with an excellent memory, Munir had a great knowledge of sports. There will no one like him and he will be remembered and missed as long as the sport is played in the country.
