Feature
Muslim MPs’ LS share dips, will 2019 be different?
As the battle for Lok Sabha 2019 gathers steam, the falling representation of Muslims in Lok Sabha has been one of the areas of concern as the House is a representation of the country’s social fabric.
It remains to be seen how many Muslim leaders are fielded in the polls and how many of them get elected. But if the outcome of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections is taken into account, one can not expect a huge change in 2019.
In 2014, only 23 Muslim leaders got elected mainly from six states of West Bengal (8), Bihar (4), Kerala (3), Jammu and Kashmir (3), Assam (2) and Andhra Pradesh (1). Union territory of Lakshadweep also elected a Muslim MP.
A wider look at the canvass shows that 53 Muslim leaders ended up as runners up in 2014. Ghulam Raza, an independent lost to Thupstan Chhewang of the BJP from Ladakh with a margin of only 36 votes.
Hamidullah Sayeed of the Congress lost the Lakshaddweep seat to Mohammed Faizal by only 1,535 votes. Adv A.N Shamseer of CPI (M) lost from Vadakara constituency in Kerala to Mullappally Ramachandran of the Congress by only 3,306 votes and Dr Shafiq Ur Rahman Baraq of Samajwadi Party lost the Sambhal seat to Satyapal Singh of the BJP by 5,174 votes. Barring these seats, all the Muslim leaders lost by wide margins.
Another notable aspect of the previous election was that nine of the Muslim leaders lost to Muslims candidates only while on the rest of the seats, the winners were all non-Muslims.
Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of Muslim runner up (19) followed by West Bengal which had nine followed by five in Bihar.
Md. Salim of CPI (M) won Raiganj seat in West Bengal with only 1356 votes. Aparupa Poddar (Afrin Ali) of Trinamool Congress was the Muslim winner with highest margin of 346,845 votes from Arambagh in West Bengal.
According to the census of 2011, the Muslim population in the country is 17.2 crore but their representation in Lok Sabha has been well below 10 per cent. The highest representation of Muslims in Lok Sabha has been in 1980 when 49 leaders were elected.
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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