Six jails,six teams and a football league on anvil
Somnath Das was an upcoming footballer at Sir Dukhiram Majumder Coaching Centre until his career was derailed by a murder case.
Somnath Das was an upcoming footballer at Sir Dukhiram Majumder Coaching Centre until his career was derailed by a murder case. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Life at the Dum Dum Central Jail was far from what he had dreamt as a child. But now suddenly there is something which has cheered up Dukhiram,convicted for murder,albeit temporarily.
Credit goes to Inspector General of Police (Jail) Ranbir Kumar for coming up with the idea,which,if materialises,would be the first of its kind in the country. Kumar has planned to organise a football league,with inmates from all the correctional homes in the state taking part in it. This is essentially going to be a try-out — a chance for the jailbirds to get a feel of the normal life.
“We have six correctional homes in West Bengal — Jalpaiguri, Berhampore,Midnapore,Dum Dum,Presidency and Alipore. Each will have their own team in the league. Already,the coaches are at work. They are training the prisoners for the tournament,” Kumar told The Indian Express.
“I have appealed to the IG to allow two foreign prisoners to play in the teams. Every correctional home has Bangladeshi,Nigerian and Myanmar prisoners. They will be the foreigners. This is just to make the event more attractive,” said secretary of Football Lovers’ Association (WB) Mihir Das,who is doing all the groundwork to organise the tournament. He is also coaching the inmates of Dum Dum Central Correctional Home.
“We wish to start the league from September 19. We approached the Indian Football Association (IFA) for a ground at Maidan. The problem is that the IFA league matches would be played during that period and the grounds are unavailable during the period. So we plan to take the tournament to Barrackpore. The 1st battalion ground at Barrackpore’s Lal Bagan is all set to be the venue. We had organised a police football tournament there,which was a big success in terms of crowd turnout. It’s not very far from the city and more importantly,the place is very secured,being inside the police barrack. Security is the prime concern as the prisoners would be playing,” Das added.
But why football of all sport?
“Because football is a group activity,which helps improve the physical and mental state of an individual,” the IG explained. “These people have made mistakes in life. But when they will return to society we hope to see them live normal lives. Society lives in group and very few sport emphasises team bonding like football.”
The inmates are very excited about making a recce of the outside world through football. “Naveen,who is serving life imprisonment sentence,is the goalkeeper of my team. When I told him that he might get a chance to go to Barrackpore and play football,he was in tears. He lived in that area and the tournament will give him an opportunity to go and meet his relatives and friends,” Das said.
The event might be an annual affair,though it will depend on how it fares in the inaugural year. Police officers are very hopeful about its success.
It is hoped that the correctional homes teach convicts to learn their lessons and feel remorseful for their crime. Can football be a catalyst in helping them make better individuals? Time will tell.
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