IN & AROUND
THE SUBCONTINENTAL MENU
POLITICAL FOOTBALL
IT ’ S just not cricket — or in this case , football . The ongoing Jangalmahal Cup , a popular football tournament organised by the West Bengal police to combat the appeal of left-wing extremism , is embroiled in an ugly dispute over partisanship of another kind . Several participants in last year ’ s cup — including the winners and runners-up — have not been invi ted to take part this year , allegedly because they are from BJP-controlled gram panchayats , or places where the BJP did well in the panchayat elections in Paschim Medinipur district . BJP district president Samit Das said , “ This is not Jangalmahal Cup . It is Trinamool Cup . The ruling party decides everything .” His Trinamool opponent neatly sidestepped the issue , saying that new clubs had got the chance to participate and “ that is what matters .” Smooth !
RUFF REPUTE
IT ’ S not another dog story — only hypothetical hounds are involved this time . In Chennai , when 40-yearold Imthiyas Aboobacker arrived home one day , she found the door broken down and Rs 16 lakh worth of jewellery missing . She reported the theft , but when the police arrived , they found that members of the family living there — a big joint family — were uncooperative . So the cops tried a little trick , saying that they suspected one of the family and that they would be back with sniffer dogs to confirm . Before they returned , the missing jewellery was found in a bag left outside the house . “ The burglars were probably scared ,” said an officer . Scared of the police dogs ’ fearsome reputation !
START-OF-TERM- REPORT
CRUTINISING legislation
Sis an involving task — especially if you can ’ t read . A recent report by the Free and Fair Election Network , a civil society organisation in Pakistan , found that two members of the 371- seat Punjab assembly were illiterate , while 19 hadn ’ t passed their matriculation ( 10th standard ) and 25 had only just scraped through it . Overall , of the incoming class of Pakistani provincial legislators following the elections in July , 27 haven ’ t passed their matriculation and 51 have just completed it , while these figures are two and 24 respectively for the National Assembly . And a healthy 68 provincial lawmakers have court cases pending against them . It ’ s a long way from the 12th National Assembly , elected in 2002 , in which legislators were required to be university graduates — a condition later removed . And it ’ s perhaps even further from the gerontocracy known as the US Senate , where some 55 out of a hundred senators hold law degrees ( a postgraduate qualification in the US ). Whither democracy , between unlettered Scylla and Charybdis the oligarch ?
BAD LADS ON TOUR
FOR many a parched soul in parts of northwestern Karnataka , a jaunt across the border to Goa , with its low excise rates , is just the thing to lift their spirits . But what of the the local residents ? In Surla , a small Goan village just across the border , a series of complaints about drunken tourists harassing women and being seen semi-naked , relieving themselves in public , have caused a stir among the locals . Village activists have obtained a temporary ban on the village ’ s eight bars , which will be closed until later this month , but they want this to be made permanent . The police , however , say that they haven ’ t received any official complaint about such activities , though they have stepped up patrols in the area . And one bar owner was quoted as saying , “ We have frankly never seen a customer misbehave ,”— there ’ s a first for everything !
6 OUTLOOK 17 September 2018
Illustrations by SAJITH KUMAR