Re: Rot in shooting sports
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:55 am
Friends
First and foremost, my thanks to Tirpassion who directed me to this particular post.
As a former member of the shooting fraternity of Maharashtra I would like to put in my two pennys worth;
1. Firstly the very title 'Rot in Shooting Sport - License to kill', while it has evoked a huge response and succeeded in grabbing the eyeballs of the public and shooting fraternity (which is all very well for the author), is downright offensive and cheap to say the least.
2. Mr. Putani, you have, as I read here, put in a month of intensive research. Your article would have held more water, if you had done some more indepth study and interviewed a few more unbiased shooters. A case in point is the fact that Mr. Ashok Pandit has several assault weapons in his personal armoury, which you say, numbers 15 or so. The way you have portrayed him in your article, one wonders whether the lay public should reach for the telephone number of the nearest police chowky and report him as a prime candidate for going on a shooting spree in the middle of Chowpaty.
3. Mr. Ashok Pandit despite his faults, (we all have ours) has dedicated his entire life to the sport of shooting and has achieved excellence in his chosen sport which has brought laurels to India. As a shooter, I respect that and admire him for it and I would humbly point out to you, that you take a page from his book and apply it to your own profession.
4. I may also draw your attention to the second part of your article, which claims that the MRA is an illegal organisation. The MRA is a registered body with the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra as the apex body for shooting sports in Maharashtra. Your issue of bogus clubs and similar such claims should be addressed to the Charity Commissioner, who will point it out to you, that the Charter of the Association lays down rules very clearly, that the Managing committee members are elected by District Associations and Shooting Clubs registed with the MRA. There is no specific rules, which says that these clubs and associations should have infrastructure in the form of ranges. A club maybe registered even on paper, so long as it fulfills the conditions laid down by the Managing Committee.
5. Finally, What is your problem, if the NRAI says it recognises MRA? Do you or any of the public see any parallel body in Maharashtra laying claims to the honour of being the apex body in the state?
6. Since the last twenty years or so, the illegal body that you claim the MRA is, has rendered yeoman services to the shooting fraternity in Maharashtra. The MRA is the first State Shooting Association in the country to start 'Safety Courses' for all aspiring shooters. To date, they have trained hundreds of aspiring shooters across the length and breadth of this state in firearm related safety.
7. Every year it organises shooting competitions and training courses for budding shooters, novices and seniors alike. Try and organise one such competition yourself and then you will realise the huge effort it takes.
8. Thousands of shooters get an opportunity to take up this sport due to the services provided by the MRA, without the LEGAL ammunition, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the likes of several international shooters to come up the ranks and represent the Country in the Olympics.
Finally I am not a a crony of Mr. Pandit nor a line toeing member of the MRA Managing Committee, but I'll be damned if I put up with the fiction that you have posted on your paper, casting a slur on Ashok Pandit or the shooting fraternity of Maharashtra and India and OUR MRA.
hvj1
First and foremost, my thanks to Tirpassion who directed me to this particular post.
As a former member of the shooting fraternity of Maharashtra I would like to put in my two pennys worth;
1. Firstly the very title 'Rot in Shooting Sport - License to kill', while it has evoked a huge response and succeeded in grabbing the eyeballs of the public and shooting fraternity (which is all very well for the author), is downright offensive and cheap to say the least.
2. Mr. Putani, you have, as I read here, put in a month of intensive research. Your article would have held more water, if you had done some more indepth study and interviewed a few more unbiased shooters. A case in point is the fact that Mr. Ashok Pandit has several assault weapons in his personal armoury, which you say, numbers 15 or so. The way you have portrayed him in your article, one wonders whether the lay public should reach for the telephone number of the nearest police chowky and report him as a prime candidate for going on a shooting spree in the middle of Chowpaty.
3. Mr. Ashok Pandit despite his faults, (we all have ours) has dedicated his entire life to the sport of shooting and has achieved excellence in his chosen sport which has brought laurels to India. As a shooter, I respect that and admire him for it and I would humbly point out to you, that you take a page from his book and apply it to your own profession.
4. I may also draw your attention to the second part of your article, which claims that the MRA is an illegal organisation. The MRA is a registered body with the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra as the apex body for shooting sports in Maharashtra. Your issue of bogus clubs and similar such claims should be addressed to the Charity Commissioner, who will point it out to you, that the Charter of the Association lays down rules very clearly, that the Managing committee members are elected by District Associations and Shooting Clubs registed with the MRA. There is no specific rules, which says that these clubs and associations should have infrastructure in the form of ranges. A club maybe registered even on paper, so long as it fulfills the conditions laid down by the Managing Committee.
5. Finally, What is your problem, if the NRAI says it recognises MRA? Do you or any of the public see any parallel body in Maharashtra laying claims to the honour of being the apex body in the state?
6. Since the last twenty years or so, the illegal body that you claim the MRA is, has rendered yeoman services to the shooting fraternity in Maharashtra. The MRA is the first State Shooting Association in the country to start 'Safety Courses' for all aspiring shooters. To date, they have trained hundreds of aspiring shooters across the length and breadth of this state in firearm related safety.
7. Every year it organises shooting competitions and training courses for budding shooters, novices and seniors alike. Try and organise one such competition yourself and then you will realise the huge effort it takes.
8. Thousands of shooters get an opportunity to take up this sport due to the services provided by the MRA, without the LEGAL ammunition, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the likes of several international shooters to come up the ranks and represent the Country in the Olympics.
Finally I am not a a crony of Mr. Pandit nor a line toeing member of the MRA Managing Committee, but I'll be damned if I put up with the fiction that you have posted on your paper, casting a slur on Ashok Pandit or the shooting fraternity of Maharashtra and India and OUR MRA.
hvj1