Feature
Shia waqf board chief meets Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, backs Ram temple
New Delhi : Amid reports of talks by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the Ayodhya issue, Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi met the Art of Living founder in Bengaluru on Tuesday and apprised him of the Board’s stand that a Ram temple should be built at the site. “I met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and apprised him of the (Shia) Board’s stand that a Ram temple should be constructed at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. I have met all seers and mahants contesting the case for the construction of a temple in court. All of them are ready for talks,” Rizvi said .
The Shia Waqf Board is drafting the terms and conditions of a mutual agreement, he said. “The Shia Central Wakf Board does not want any mosque to be constructed at Ram’s birth place. Instead it should be constructed elsewhere in a Muslim populated area,” he said.
Rizvi said that the number of mosques in Ayodhya were sufficient for the Muslims residing there. There is no need for a new mosque, he said. He claimed that those demanding the construction of a mosque at Ram’s birthplace, or near it, only wanted to linger the dispute.
“The demolished mosque belonged to the Shia Waqf and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has no right to decide on it. Only the Shia board has the right to decide,” Rizvi claimed. I have conveyed my intentions to Ravi Shankar, he said, adding that the initiative would strengthen Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.
Rizvi, however, declined to divulge as to what Ravi Shankar told him. The Art of Living Foundation had said last week that Ravi Shankar was in touch with several imams and swamis, including Acharya Ram Das of the Nirmohi Akhara, to help find an out-of-court settlement to the Ram Temple dispute. However, earlier, AIMPLB member and Convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) Zafaryab Jilani had denied that any of their authorised representatives met the Art of Living founder for an out-of-court settlement.
“The Ayodhya dispute cannot be settled through arbitration. We will never withdraw our claim to the land in Ayodhya where once the Babri mosque stood and was demolished on December 6, 1992. If Ravi Shankar wants to mediate on this issue, he should send a formal proposal to the AIMPLB,” Jilani had said. If some individual members of the board did meet Ravi Shankar, it doesn’t represent what AIMPLB stands by, he added. Jilani said the position of the board was clear that a solution was possible only through adjudication.
The Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.
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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