Feature
It’s Modi’s Hindustan, not Gandhi’s India: Engineer Rashid
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir legislator Engineer Rahid blames the growing intolerance in the country on Prime Minister Narendra “Modi’s Hindustan”, not Mahatma Gandhi’s India.
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, better known as Engineer Rashid, has been attacked twice this month after he hosted a beef party in Srinagar — first by BJP legislators in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly who beat him up and then by Hindu activists in Delhi who smeared ink on his face.
Rashid, an independent legislator, told that “everything is possible in this country as this is now Modi’s Hindustan, not a tolerant (Mahatma) Gandhi’s India”.
The attack in New Delhi took place outside the Press Club shortly after he had addressed the media on the October 9 attack on a truck in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir that eventually killed its cleaner.
The Hindu Sena activists not only blackened Rashid’s face with ink and Mobil oil, but shockingly also threw ink on the families of the victims of the Udhampur attack.
Asked why he violated religious sentiments by hosting a beef party, Rashid explained: “I never eat non-vegetarian food in my constituency. But it hurts me when people like Sakshi Maharaj or Haryana Chief Minister (M.L.) Khattar dictate me what to eat and what not to eat.”
Speaking at the Jammu and Kashmir House here, Rashid hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for making controversial comments on Muslims as well as issues related to beef consumption.
On Sunday, BJP president Amit Shah told four party leaders, including Sakshi Maharaj and Khattar, that Prime Minister Modi was very upset with the kind of hate comments made by them.
While Rashid is ready to respect others’ religious sentiments, he has his own questions.
“Cow can be their mother, but what relation do they have with buffalo?” he asked. Buffalo meat is also widely known as beef.
“Let me accept that Sakshi Maharaj’s cow can be his mother. What relation he has with my cow that I raised at my home?
“My cow is my cow, and I decide what I do with it.”
Rashid also urged India and Pakistan to shun the politics of hatred and resolve the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir according to the aspirations of the people of the state.
“I always believe India and Pakistan should have been one country. But the recent attacks by right-wing activists are proving Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory correct,” Rashid said.
Asking Modi to apologize over rising intolerance in the country, the legislator from Langate said: “The BJP has already divided the entire country. Please don’t divide Jammu and Kashmir.
“By doing this, you are proving Jinnah’s two-nation theory absolutely right. Modi should apologize for Godhra, Akhlaq and every other such incident,” he said, referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots that began with a train burning at Godhra.
Rashid branded Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed a “puppet CM” and blamed him for the poor state of affairs in the country’s only Muslim-majority state.
“Kashmir has become a lawless island, and Mufti Sayeed is solely responsible for that.
“People voted for him so that he can put the BJP and RSS out of the state. But he created an unholy coalition with them, providing a platform to the RSS and other extremists to interfere in our state.”
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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