Members of the Indian shooting contingent, currently in the UK to take part in the ISSF World Cup, were subjected to harassment by a bus driver and his supervisor belonging to the World Cup transport department, on Saturday.
The shooters were returning to their hotel from the Southern County Shooting Ranges in Dorset at 2.35pm local time, with Indian World Champion and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Manavjit Singh Sandhu and his mate Birendeep Singh amongst the last to board the bus.
The driver slammed the door shut just before Birendeep boarded the bus, as he arrived late by a few minutes. When Sandhu and the other shooters objected strongly, the driver took them to the supervisor of the transport department who screamed at the shooters and insulted them.
Trouble started 2 days ago when the same transport department forced 2 Indian women shooters, Shreyasi and Shagun, off the bus over an arbitrary excuse and humiliated them in front of their competitors from other nations.
Clearly rattled by the second such incident in 3 days, the manager of the Indian team, M Padmanabhan, filed an official complaint with the Indian High Commissioner in London, seeking his "support and assistance". He has communicated to him the incidents are "sure to affect the shooters' concentration and thus their performance."
The team is now demanding not just an apology, but also alternative transportation arrangements. The shooters also want assurance from the authorities that such incidents do not happen again.
Sports Minister M S Gill requested the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the Indian High Commission to provide the details of the incident, and promised to take appropriate action after all the details are made available. The matter is now under review, he said.
On a more elaborate note, Manavjit Singh Sandhu also said that the Indian conginent have been facing discrimation ever since they stepped into the UK on May 11th. he said the players were heckled over payment of hotel accomodation and other registration fees, and that the entire episode has left a bad taste with the team ahead of the Cup.