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Kabaddi turf hurting These days the World Kabaddi Cup is being held in Punjab. The live telecast is proving a hit with the viewers. However, some disturbing news, too, is coming out of the stadiums. Foreign players are being hurt more often and seriously. The reason is that the matches are being played on hard soil with irregular grass cover. In Europe and North America, kabaddi is played on lush green grass and their players are not used to playing on hard soil. That is why the Indian teams don't perform too well in Canada, the USA and the UK and the foreign teams don't do too well on the Indian soil. It was disturbing to know that the turf in the Guru Nanak Stadium in Amritsar was dug up right in the middle for the kabaddi matches. This is ridiculous. This stadium is used on the year round basis by those track athletes and hockey players, who have no access to the GNDU facilities. Now, these budding athletes will suffer for months. Moreover, Kapurthala, which is the nursery of kabaddi, having a fine line-up of iconic players like Mohan Singh, Rattan Singh, Sarwan Singh Bal, Pritam Singh (Parita) and Balwinder Singh Phidda, has been ignored. HARJAP SINGH AUJLA, New Jersey(USA) Baseless allegation In his article “Male bastions under attack” (December 9), D.R. Chaudhry's allegation that some members of the khap panchayat have asked for their share in the ~1-crore grant given to the Bibipur village panchayat is incorrect and baseless. I do not know why he is making such allegations. The khap panchayat has got special status for Bibipur and no one can make such a demand. Sunil Jaglan, Sarpanch, Bibipur(Jind) |
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Khap-bashing biased In his article “Male bastions under attack”, D R Chaudhry has asserted that sexual abuse against women is rampant in the rural hinterland and the khap land around Delhi and Haryana is the most notorious in this respect since the khaps pamper patriarchy which is solely responsible for the crimes against women. I do not agree with this assertion. Firstly, the sordid phenomenon of sexual assaults and crimes against women cannot be explained in a facile and simplistic manner inasmuch as the rural hinterland is not surely the criminal den in this regard. The alleged perpetration of such crimes by justice A K Ganguly, former Supreme Court judge, J P Joshi,IAS officer, Trun Tejpal, Editor-in Chief, Tehelka, Bapu Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, both religious leaders, and the like have been reported. They do not even remotely belong to the khap land. Such perpetrators are a legion across the country. Khap bashing or denigrating Haryanvi society smacks of a deep prejudice which retards the understanding this vexed national issue and the global problem in the right perspective. According to the US Bureau of Justice Report: “One out of six women has experienced an attempted or completed rape. More than a quarter of college-going women in the U S report having experienced rape or rape attempt since age 14.” The traditional moral values, decried by Chaudhry as outdated, are crumbling and society has fallen prey to voyeuristic culture. Hedonism rules the roost under neo-liberalism and crony capitalism. The khaps are concerned with the institution of marriage, which is fundamental to social and national development. In tune with time- tested customs, buttressed by scientific and medical evidence, they oppose same-gotra and same-village marriages. Only traditional moral values and the concept of social bhaichara implanted in young minds can scotch the crimes against women. Dr Prem Singh Dahiya, Rohtak
Female tides The article “Male bastions under attack” brings forth graphically the changing scenario in Haryana’s traditionally male-dominated society. These instances may seem like sparks in a fire which is being doused by malevolent forces, but even embers have strength to sweep the masses as well as classes. It is rightly said that if self-styled leaders do not change, they would be extinct like dinosaurs. RAJINDER DHILLON, via email |
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