oppn parties Shooters Detained: No Respect For Sportspersons

News Snippets

  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
  • IPL: records tumble as SRH beat MI in a high-scoring match. SRH score 277/3 with 18 sixes and Mumbai score 246 with 20 sixes to fall short by 31 runs. Atotal of 38 sixes, highest in an IPL match were hit and both teams combined to score 523 runs, the highest aggregate in an IPL match
  • Amul will launch fresh milk in the US
  • IPL: RCB beat Punjab by 4 wickets as Kohli and Karthik shine with the bat
  • India strongly objected to German foreign office remarks over the arrest of delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, called it "biased assumptions"
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Shooters Detained: No Respect For Sportspersons

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2017-05-09 17:48:08

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
Apart from a host of other reasons, one of the biggest reasons our sportspersons (apart from cricketers) feel alienated and are hence not able to perform to their full potential is the fact that they are treated like dirt back home. The way 12 international level shooters were detained by Customs at the IGI Airport in Delhi on their arrival from Plzen shooting Grand Prix was deplorable. It was 4 am in the morning and the shooters had arrived after a long flight at the end of a gruelling tournament. They had all the necessary papers with them and had not brought any extra equipment. Yet, they were subjected to red tape and made to wait for DRI clearance for 13 long hours. In a shocking turn of events, the official team manager accompanying the team left the airport, leaving the players to fend for themselves.

The Customs were acting tough because a few national shooters had been found smuggling pistols a few days back. That could have been the reason for a thorough check of the arriving shooters’ baggage, a more than cursory glance at their papers and perhaps a quick talk with their superiors. But the way the players claim they were treated shows that Indian officialdom has scant respect for those who represent India in international sports.

There should be a thorough enquiry in the episode. The officials found to exceed their brief must be punished. There must be a protocol in place for sportspersons returning after representing India in tournaments abroad. The customs gives clearance to equipment they take with them. If arriving players have the same equipment with them and the necessary papers, they must be cleared immediately. These sportspersons have to get sleep, practice hard and then leave for another tournament. The shooters are scheduled to leave for Munich World Cup which starts on May 17. Who will compensate for the loss of a day’s practice? Who will bear the cost of missed connecting flights? In addition, they were made to suffer mental trauma on being treated like criminals. This is not done and should not be repeated.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) also has a role to play in this. Their officials should be present at the airport when players return after foreign tournaments to make it easy for them. The NRAI officials have their links and are better placed to force fast decisions than individual players. This is one service they must provide in the interest of the sport. Or are the officials of the body content with getting their pictures clicked with celebrity shooters like Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang? As a first step, the NRAI should blacklist the team manager for deserting the players and ban him for life from being connected with the body in any capacity.