Feature
‘Ghar wapsi’ not conversion, says VHP
Hyderabad: Demanding a legislation to ban religious conversions, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday said “ghar wapsi” cannot be termed conversion.
A joint meeting of central board of trustees and management committee, the highest decision making body of the VHP, which met here passed a resolution demanding that the government make a legislation banning conversions.
Briefing newsmen of the decisions taken at the two-day meeting which concluded here Monday, VHP international working president Praveen Togadia said they opposed conversions but believe in “home coming”.
He appealed to all Muslims and Christians in India to come back to “original fold”, saying their ancestors were all Hindus who got converted due to persecution or allurements.
Vowing not to allow conversion of Hindus, Togadia said the constitution is against conversions and that the Supreme Court has also made this clear in 1977.
“The Supreme Court has also given a judgment that Hinduism is way of life,” Togadia said.
“If a person adopts western, Chinese or Japanese way of life, it can’t be called religious conversions. Similarly, if a group becomes Hindu and adopts Hindu way of life, it can’t be called conversion,” he argued.
” ‘Ghar wapsi’ is different. We are in favour of it. All Muslims and Christians living in India are children of those who got converted after sixth century,” he added.
Togadia claimed that “ghar wapsi” is going on in the country for 700 years and hence there is nothing new in it. ” ‘Ghar wapsi’ is not against constitution or law. They have a right to make a home coming,” he said.
The VHP leader also disagreed that “ghar wapsi” will affect the process of development of the country.
“In fact, this will hasten development. World over it is accepted that economic development will be better under cultural ethos. Culture is the driving force for economic development,” he said.
Togadia denied that Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposed “ghar wapsi”.
Claiming that the VHP is the only organisation giving free education to 20 lakh children, he said the VHP was making all efforts to help poor Hindus in all 53,000 villages by providing them food, education, health facilities.
The organisation appealed to every Hindu to help achieve this goal by donating some rice and one to Rs.10 every day.
The VHP leader also appealed to Hindus to forge unity and end untouchability.
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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