A young female advocate from Farashgund Daharmunah village of central Kashmir’s Budgam district has brought laurels to her area by qualifying for the prestigious District Litigation Officer exam, the result of which was declared by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission recently.
Yazan Ul Yasra has secured an overall rank of 3 in the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir while as in Kashmir she has topped the list of successful candidates.
Yasra did her schooling locally and passed her 10th class from Shaheen Islamia Public School Soibug with flying colors. For her 11th and 12th she chose to be an alumnus of Iqbal Memorial Bemina, Srinagar and in 2012 she passed her 12th with 85% marks in the medical stream.
Her family, like most of the other Kashmiri families, wanted to see their daughter as doctor but destiny had written something unique and different for Yasra. She never wanted to be a doctor and instead had an inclination to wear a black gown. In 2013 she got selected for BA, LLB at the School of Law, University of Kashmir. Following the completion of her LLB, she appeared in Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) , qualified it with 3rd rank from Kashmir and got admission to pursue her LLM at the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law Patiala, Punjab.
Yasra did practice law at the District Court Srinagar for three years but then decided to appear in judiciary competitive exams.
Her journey had been full of struggle. “When I was in the 9th semester of LLB, my father was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease and by the time I was in 10th semester his condition deteriorated beyond repair. He remained in a coma for almost 22 days and ultimately breathed his last in February 2019. His death had an enduring effect on me because I was so attached to my father. My father always wanted me to be an officer so I decided to live his dream. I went to Delhi for preparation and stayed there for one and a half year,” Yazan told Greater Kashmir.
Yazan did not lose hope after she was dropped in the Prosecuting Officer exam by a margin of few marks in October 2022; instead, she continued her hard work and started to prepare for the District Litigation Officer exam which she qualified with flying colours and thus became an inspiration for others.
During her preparation days, Yasra would sleep for only two and a half hours. She would sleep at 10 pm and wake up at 12:30 am to study for the whole night. “I will not suggest aspirants to go with my set schedule; instead I would suggest that they sleep for at least 7-8 hours for better results. Sleeping for a short span of time for months did affect my health but that pain has now transformed into happiness after the results were declared,” she said.
Financial constraints have also made things difficult for Yasra, especially after the death of her father. “We did suffer financially after the death of my father but my elder brother never let us feel Abu’s absence. My brother has been a great inspiration for me who always stood by my side even before the death of our father. Whenever I asked him anything he provided it to me without delay. Now I have become an officer I would love to help my brother financially,” she added.
Yasra has credited her success to her teachers. In her message to the aspirants, she said that success does not come overnight, infact, it comes at a proper time. “There is no substitute for hard work, so one should do rigorous hard work to achieve a goal,” she said.
