Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 06 August 2018 | Page 9
EAT, DRESS, MOPE LIKE A JAILBIRD
I
T’S a strange but increas-
ingly popular, and monet
isable, concept: people pay-
ing for a one-day stay in jail,
with authentic uniforms and
food for a full convict exp
erience. Telangana did this
with the colonial-
era Sangareddy
jail two years ago,
and now Kerala’s
prison depart-
ment is thinking
of launching such
a programme as part of an
upcoming prison museum
on the premises of Viyyur
central jail in Thrissur dis-
trict. Jail DGP R. Sreelekha
says the museum would fea-
ture antique prison-related
objects and records
collected from vari-
ous parts of Kerala.
Other highlights will
include a library,
cafeteria and a light-
and-sound show.
IN PAKISTAN, A WRETCHED ASS ASSAULT
N
ON-figurative asses, at least, are suffering
in Pakistani politics. When Imran Khan
called supporters of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif
‘donkeys’, members of the former’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took it literally. Two
donkeys have been viciously mauled by PTI
activists. They painted the name of a party, pre-
sumably Sharif’s PML(N), on one and nearly
beat it to death. An animal rescue group says
the creature “was beaten to a pulp, ... kicked all
over...a car rammed into him.” As for the other,
“His skull is visible, maggots have eaten all the
flesh within it. His left eye is gouged out....”
HANGING OUT FOR A HERO
R
EMEMBER last
week’s morbid post-
card from Sri Lanka? The
nation, which has not car-
ried out an execution since
1976, has now ‘revived’
(perhaps not the best word
in this context) it for drug
traffickers. But death by
judicial fiat requires a
dealer—the government
is headhunting for a state
hangman. It is apparently
being advertised through
normal channels, and a
71-year-old woman has re-
portedly applied, saying it
would allow her to do good
for society. Sri Lanka had
never formally abolished
capital punishment, and
there are over 400 convicts
on death row. In 2014, an
attempt to reinstate it re-
sulted in a hangman being
recruited—but he resigned
in shock, after seeing
the gallows.
A Bangladeshi Pie
T
HE space for dissenters is fast shrinking in Bangla
desh. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held
by January next year and perhaps this is a reason why pol
iticians are getting more visible and vocal than before.
But having already marginalised political opponents and
detractors in the media, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s
Awami League is now going after critics of the quota system
she had put in place. The existing quota system has 56 per
cent of government posts reserved under different catego
ries. These range from children of freedom fighters (30 per
cent), women (10 per cent), backward districts (10 per cent),
ethnic minorities (five per cent) and people with disabilities
(one per cent). This leaves the rest to get in through the
remaining 44 per cent solely on the basis of merit.
Since April this year, students on campuses in Dhaka and
Chittagong began sit-in demonstrations and resorted to
other forms of agitations against
the quota system. On occasion,
The new quota
they clashed with the police. The
system in
violence around quota over the
Bangladesh
past months had led to the death
reserves 56
of over 25 people, with the PM
per cent for
having to issue a stern warning
that any excesses will not be
various
tolerated. In recent months, Has
categories.
ina and her supporters have been
Campuses
using different methods to silence
erupted in
protesters.
protest; over
As part of this move, an assi
25 have died.
stant professor of Chittagong
University, Maidul Islam, has
now been sued and forced to leave the campus. Islam had
been actively critical of the government’s quota policy.
Members of Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling
party, has sought legal action against Islam for his Facebook
post that allegedly made derogatory remarks against Hasina.
The professor denies involvement in any such post
against the PM. But her supporters have continued to
pursue Islam’s ouster from the university campus and have
been insisting on pursuing legal action against him.
Islam has now sought police protection to return to the
campus and resume teaching.
According to a report in the Daily Star, a group of
teachers and employees under the banner ‘Bangabandhu
Parishad’ demonstrated on campus, demanding punish
ment to the teacher.
The Chhatra League has been strongly resisting demon
stration against the quota system in university cam
puses. In the past, this had also led to clashes between
League members and students and teachers who were
trenchant critics of the quota system.
6 August 2018 OUTLOOK 9