Pele to start ISL?
Thirty years after he had wowed fans at the Eden Gardens (Kolkata) in the company of other New York Cosmos stars, Brazilian legend Edson Arantes de Nascimento, Pele, as he is popularly known the world over, will reportedly come to India in October and will attend the final of Subroto Cup Tournament. It is understood that the three-time World Cup winner will be the guest of honour at the Atletico de Kolkata’s first home match in the second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) against Kerala Blasters FC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on October 13. After the successful first edition of the Indian Super League (ISL), the second edition of the league, is all set to get the ball rolling on October 3 in the match between Chenaiyin FC and Ateletico de Kolkata at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Chennai. It would have been a great achievement for the organizers if they could get Pele to be the chief guest and kickstart the ISL.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Tribute to a teacher
Professor Avdhut Agshikar of Dhempe College of Arts and Science turned 60 on September 10. He joined a lecturer in geology in 1980 and is now the head of the geology department. Is a great professor who is gifted with the art of teaching, which is his passion. Many of his students have gone on to work at some of the best companies in the world as well as state mining departments. Some have even become teachers. He is the founder of the Geological Society of Goa. It is said that some people require many lives to do just one thing, while Prof Agshikar has done many things in one life.
Sankalp Chandelkar, Panaji
Who has the right to die?
The recent judgement of the Rajasthan High Court on August 10 on the practice of Santhara by the Jains, has thrown up many interesting issues for consideration. The judgement has fuelled a storm of controversy all over the country, and the representatives of the Jain community have appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the judgement of the Rajasthan High Court. The very first dilemma which confronts the Judiciary is whether it considers itself to be competent to decide on matters of philosophy and faith. It would be reasonable to hold that no Court is either capable of, or has the authority to decide whether a particular belief or a set of beliefs is an integral part of a particular faith. If we accept the argument that the matter of Santhara is a theological question which is beyond the jurisdiction of the judiciary to arbitrate, then the only recourse available to us is the court of common sense. Which brings us back to the question whether the right to life can embody within itself the right to die “ with dignity or otherwise. Common sense tells us that since we do not create our own life, we cannot decide to destroy it. The author of life remains the author of death. All the debate about whether santhara is suicide or not, is peripheral to the main question of whether we have the right to destroy something sacred which we have not ourselves created.
Averthanus L D’Souza, Dona Paula
