The Bangladesh Riots 

There have been ongoing riots all over Bangladesh because of the death sentence of a political party leader.

The riots started on the 28^th of February 2013 after the announcement of the death sentence of Delwar Hossain Saydee who is a party leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He was sentenced for looting, arson, murder, rape and forcefully converting minority people to Islam. After he was sentenced, supporters of his party started protests. These attacks involved violence towards the police, setting fire to Hindu temples, vandalising cars and destroying government property. They’ve damaged over 50 temples and set fire to over 1500 houses and business establishment of Hindu people in various districts of the country.

 The first day of the verdict left 40 people dead due to clashes between the Jamatshibir and the law enforcers. Many of the dead were policemen and 98,000 people have been prosecuted for their violence. In protest, their political ally, the Bangladesh nationalist party supported the strike and called for another daylong strike on 5^th march. These attacks are still on-going. In an exclusive interview with eye witness Nasrin, a sixth-form student from Impington Village College, we gain an insight into what it was like to experience the violence first hand.

What was the atmosphere like?

“It was tense practically all the time and also violent. I never expected my home country to be like this.”

Whereabouts were you?

“I stayed in the capital Dhaka, for three days with my cousins.  The first day was ok but on the next two I first saw protests and marches. I went to ‘shadbachotbor’ which is an area for public peaceful protest. I joined in because the atmosphere made me very proud. Most of the people were in the early 20’s. In Sylet, the atmosphere made me very proud again. Later on, things got much worse because some people started to become violent and the peaceful people clashed with the obviously angry people and they started to set things alight. They burnt tires and set cars on fire, it was scary.”

How did it make you feel?

“I felt scared, anxious and extremely unsafe.”

What were the worst things that you saw?

“I was out in the market and my sister-in-law and I saw several policemen getting beaten up by rioters, it made me feel even less safe.”

What do you think of the idea?

“If people are protesting peacefully they should be allowed and respected, police and the government should take action.”

Do you think things got worse after you came back to England?

“Yes, because now, gangs are breaking into people’s houses to kill them, which wasn’t happening before so things are definitely getting worse, they’re also using religion to spread violence which is terrible.”

How did you get to the airport?

On the day of my flight, I nearly cancelled because there was a huge strike that day and they said any car on the roads will be set on fire; I had to get back so my dad arranged an ambulance to take me to the airport because rioters don’t attack them. I was so scared and actually fearing for my life!”

How long do you think this will go on for?

“I really don’t know because the government aren’t doing anything about it so it could go on for a few more months.”

Is there anything you support?

“I support the war criminals being put to death because they killed and raped millions of innocent people and also murdered thousands of intellectual people just to make Bangladesh crumble.”

“Also, Islam teaches peace but these ‘Jamatshibir’ party (war criminals) are only using Islam to spread violence. They give Islam a bad name and they are shaming Muslims all over the world.”

Report by BBC School News Reporters: Ellie, Jane, Jessica, Isis, Maryam, Ella, Lydia, Alina and Yasmin.

Graffiti - Art or Vandalism?

James and Raisley take to ‘the streets’…of Impington to find out!

‘Graffiti seems to be the nation’s equivalent of Marmite…you either love it or hate it.’ – Mrs Fadipe

People seem to like street art overall but they see tagging (a graffiti artist’s signature) as an anti-social nuisance or just mindless vandalism. Mr McGregor an art teacher at Impington Village College gave us his views on graffiti:

“Street art can be done very well, but it depends where it is done and the quality of the work. I think that the ‘guided bus-way’ would benefit from some good graffiti or street art. Banksy’s work is good I like his sense of humour and some of the messages he shows in his work”

We also interviewed a graffiti artist that would like to remain anonymous. “I think that all types of street art and graffiti can be inspiring, but like everything there is good graffiti and bad graffiti and because there is a lot of bad graffiti people see all graffiti as just mindless vandalism.”

People do Graffiti to try and make a difference to issues they feel strongly about but may not necessarily know how to express themselves. There are a lot of political messages in Graffiti such as racism and gender inequality that need to be recognised in order for these issues to change. ‘Tags’ are like an artist’s signature... You make enough of them and you begin to be noticed, and it’s when you’re noticed that things can begin to change. If people see your ‘tag’ and then see a piece with your ‘tag’ people begin to relate pictures and images with you and your tag. You develop you own sense of style. Graffiti is like a darker, grittier art exhibit, people dislike it because it’s real, it talks about struggles and struggles are easier to ignore and dislike when you are directly confronted with them.

As you can see there are many different views on graffiti but it seems to be based on whether you participate in it or not. If you are a graffiti artist then you like it. Graffiti can send a message and be inspiring. However, most people consider it to be a nuisance and want there to be more serious consequences for these actions.

We also got some views from an ex-cop, our teacher Mrs. Wade “I respect the artistic side that graffiti artists have and how they can do this so well but I stand firmly against any type of law breaking so I think that society should dedicate a space to those graffiti artists so they can be as artistic as they like without sneaking around breaking the law.”

We have talked to many people about this issue and everyone thinks that a good space to exercise the graffiti urge is on the sides of the bridges at the Cambridge guided bus track. This would make the bus track a moving art exhibition. In conclusion, the majority of people don’t like how people vandalise places with mindless spraying but when it is done to a good quality it can be very uplifting and brighten up a community. 

Although Liverpool has introduced funding for their women’s team, society is isn’t accepting towards the female game.

Liverpool has brought in funding for their female team but does this really show fairness between the two genders’ games? Even though they have provided this money to support mixed training, many people are disputing whether or not this will provide a positive outcome. I n the past there has been much controversy over public opinion such as “I see no possible way that women can compete physically, and equally, on the football pitch.”

Even the FA President Sepp Blatter added fuel to the flames by saying: “women, could, for example, wear tighter shorts” this shows that equality is a long way off for women.

It is comments like these which are shaping the future of women’s sport; our research showed that 90% of students aged 11-14 had never watched a women’s football match and only 2% could name a female footballer. The main concern lies in the fact that half of the students interviewed were female.

An article in 2007 by the BBC said that women were very angry at the fact that they were paid just £40 a day while playing in the World Cup in China. Compared to male footballers’ wages these payments were paltry.

"Women's football has made a breakthrough but clearly there's a long way to go and we know that which is why we're working incredibly hard to try and change that status quo." States FA spokesman Alex Stone.

Last year when the women’s super league was launched pay was raised to £20,000-£30,000 a year, but male footballers can easily earn this amount in a single day. Many are working towards more equality for women, and we have come along way, but not far enough.

We interviewed Miss Jarvis at IVC and it seems her opinion towards girls’ football is positive and they don’t agree with the low funding or prejudice.

“It is really important to encourage girls’ football we try and offer girls clubs and fixtures. In fact we had a girls’ fixture last night. Participation rates aren’t as high in girls’ football this year.”

Mr Crowther says about women’s funding and how he is opposed to it:

“I don’t think it is fair, there is obviously a lot of funding in the male game and that’s portrayed through the sporting pyramid, as such. I think there should be a lot more to female football.”

We spoke to Impington Village College student and Cambridge City player Zoe to find out her opinion on sexism within football. As a keen sports enthusiast, Zoe expressed her anguish about the lack of equality in football and her views on how it should be improved.

“I think that girls shouldn’t be afraid to ask to play with their male friends. Football is not purely about physical ability; it is a social activity which many girls are missing out on thanks to the media’s stereotypical views.”

Many people believe women’s football, and other sports for that matter, should be more equal, and are making great strides towards this aim. In the past improvements have been made but compared to male’s wages, rules and attitudes equality is still very far off. Society’s prejudice towards women’s capability in sport is holding them back from being fully appreciated for their work.

http://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football

Eleanor, Georgia, Hannah, Jade, Maya, and Adelina.

Cheating in football

Dan Tan - alleged global match fixer

• Chinese man, in his late 40s
• Reportedly called "the boss" and "the capo" by his accomplices
•  in public, he told a Singaporean newspaper in 2011 that he was innocent of all match-fixing charges
• Implicated by Interpol in fixing of hundreds of sports events, mostly football matches
• Said to live in a wealthy neighbourhood of Singapore
• Reported to have a personal net worth of more than £38m
• Match fixing for more than two years

The Singapore police are questioning a man called Dan Tan who they think is the master mind behind a match-fixing organisation. The suspects are a small group of men who are mainly from Singapore and the Balkans. The police think that they have been fixing games in the Italian league between the years of 2009-2011 and that at least 50 nations were involved in the scandal. Dan Tan's accused associate Suljic has been arrested for fraud. Fifa have estimated that around 9.6 billion pounds has been taken in fraudulent match fixing by the criminals. The police think that this scandal is involving the Mafia, Chinese gangsters and Russian crooks.

Diving

A ‘diver’ is a player who simulates being the victim of a dangerous tackle in order to gain an advantage, for example, a free kick or a penalty. Recent studies show that mostly foreign players are the majority of ‘divers’ in the Premier league. With new foreign players coming into clubs, the style of the premier league as we all know, is changing rapidly due to many players cheating to get a vital three points for their club.

Some of the most booked ‘divers’ in the 2012-2013 premier league season are…

Fernando Torres with 2 bookings for simulation,

Mario Balotelli with 2 bookings for simulation,

Luis Suarez with 2 bookings for simulation,

Gareth Bale with 4 bookings for simulation.

Interviews about Match fixing

Our News Report team interviewed a selection of students from Impington Village College about their views on match fixing.

50% of students said that match fixing ruins the game and the teams should be fined or relegated.

70% of students said players would dive if they had the chance but good players won’t because they use their skills.

90% of people said cheating ruins football.

70% of people said they would still support their team if they were to cheat but they wouldn’t approve of it.

80% of people said they would cheat if it meant they could win an important game.