During this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations, the grounds in Sultanpet witnessed one of the biggest congregations of Muslims in the recent times.
The ground was brimming with crowd and the air heavy with fervour. The approach to the venue was chock-a-block with posters from organisations and political parties greeting people on the occasion.
One of the reasons for the huge turnout was because this was the first time that followers who prayed at mosques in areas adjoining Sultanpet came together for offering prayers to signify the conclusion of Ramzan at a single venue — the other popular congregation point was the Gandhi Thidal on the beach where hundreds of women and children too joined the mass prayer.
At Sultanpet, there was a surprise package too this year. Scribes and photographers who went to cover the festival were each given a piece of date, said to have been imported from the UAE.
That the traditional game of Atya Patya, has quite a fan base in the city which was evident the other day when most of them were on the streets. The mood was combative unlike when they are engaged in the game of feints similar to kabbadi where opponents try to pin a player down when he tries to sneak in and out of rival territory.
Claiming that ‘Atya Patya,’ a traditional game is lacking patronage in the Union Territory, around 200 sportspersons staged protest demanding an inquiry into issuance of certificates from the Sports Department which were used by those unconnected to the game to get admission to professional courses or claim jobs.
The players had united under the banner of the Sportsman Welfare Association of Pondicherry which estimated that at least 500 persons had illegally benefited from these certificates since 2006.
Association secretary M. Elangovan said, “We have sent several representations to the authorities to take action against such false claims but there was no response so far. We demand the government to order a probe by the CBI into the alleged irregularities.
Congress MLA A. Namassivayam who was appointed president of the Pradesh Congress Committee was very conscious of ‘auspicious time’ while taking charge at the Congress office the other day.
Mr. Namassivayam, who arrived to the Congress office ahead of the scheduled time, kept looking at his watch . He followed the advice of priests and sat on the chair as the clock struck 1.55 p.m.
Mr. Namassivayam is a close relation of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.
(Reporting by M. Dinesh Varma, R. Sivaraman and S. Prasad)
