New Delhi: In some of the remote border villages of Manipur such as Chassad and Sampui in the state’s Kamjong district, football has been slowly doing what many governments have failed for decades — bring clashing tribes together.
This has been largely possible due to an initiative started by Mathanmi Hungyo and Rohit Agarwal of an NGO, Recognise Rise and Empower Association (RREA), in 2018.
Hungyo, who founded RREA, and Agarwal, its programme director, decided to open grassroots football centres in government schools of the district under an initiative called Sports For Social Development.
Not only has the initiative helped children from various tribes such as the Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas interact and play with each other, it has also improved their attendance in schools.
Hungyo, who belongs to the Tangkhul Naga tribe, told The Better India how ethnic tensions would earlier separate children.
“At school, you could feel the tension and hostility that existed between different communities in terms of how we sat together in class and how we made friends. But on the field, where I loved playing football, we would unite irrespective of which tribe or community we came from,” said Hungyo.
“Our only objective was winning and playing the game. Taking note of my personal experience and thinking about our people, who love playing sports, we felt this could be a medium to strengthen our sense of fraternity,” he added.
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Jasper, the dog that guards its owner
A photograph of a dog guarding its owner inside a church in Nagaland has left people amused.
Named Jasper, the dog belongs to a person identified as Akumzulu, who is a preacher at the Kobulong Baptist Church in Kobulong village of the state’s Mokokchung district.
According to reports, Jasper was photographed earlier this month as it entered the church and guarded Akumzulu for close to 25 minutes while the latter gave his sermon.
Akumzulu has been quoted as saying that he had gone to the church like any other day and was unaware of Jasper tagging along. As he walked up to the pulpit to begin his sermon, Jasper came inside the church and headed straight to where his owner stood.
Sikkim singer fighting caste-based violence through music
Santosh Baraily, a singer from south Sikkim’s Legship town, has been raising awareness about caste-based violence through his music since the past four years.
His latest release ‘Ke Rakhya Cha Jaatma’ (What is there in caste) talks about the creation of caste and the social stigmas attached to them.
“Nowadays, the cases of atrocity are occurring in Sikkim, especially in the Nepali section of the society… we are humans and we have to leave this world one day to a place where no such allocation is done on the basis of caste or any other,” Baraily has been quoted as saying.
“Through music, people become aware of things that they are ignorant about… maybe it’s only through music that people who have reached a breaking point and come back and become blessed with a new life. I believe the social stigmas which we face can be tackled through music one day.”
‘Roadside pathshala’ for traffic rule violators in Arunachal
The police in Arunachal Pradesh have found a unique way of making traffic rule violators learn some road rules.
In state capital Itanagar, the administration has set up a ‘roadside pathshala’ where violators are made to sit and learn traffic rules.
Earlier this week, Itanagar police forced 325 traffic rule violators to sit inside the ‘roadside pathshala’ and learn the road rules.
Itanagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer Kamdam Sikom informed the violators how the capital city has recorded the highest fatality rates due to road accidents in the state over the years. He also apprised them of the various sections of cognisable offences under the Motor Vehicles Act and urged them not to ignore traffic rules.
(Edited by Debalina Dey)
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