India's Tamang shoots gold

- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1054801.cms
IANS[ THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005 05:53:24 PM ]

MELBOURNE: India's little known Pemba Tamang on Thursday won the men's rapid fire pistol gold, while Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Meena Kumari managed silver medals in different events at the Commonwealth Shooting Championship here.

Harveen Sarao and Vijay Kumar won a bronze each to take India's overall tally to 11 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals in the championships.

Tamang scored 760.6 points (565 in the qualifying round and 195.6 in the finals) to win the gold.

Melody Igorov of Canada won the silver with 750.6 (559+191.6) and Vijay Kumar the bronze with 748.3 (564+184.3).

In the men's double trap event, Olympic silver medallist Rathore finished second with 168 (130+3, behind his coach and local man Russell Mark, who scored 173 (134+39).

Rathore, who won the Olympic silver in the same event at Athens last year, was tied for the second spot with Australia's Casselle Nathan (127+41) at the same score, 168, in the finals.

The tie was broken on the fifth station with the Indian winning. Rathore was not disappointed with the results, but looked ahead to tougher tests this year.

"I view things with a long-term perspective. I have chosen to focus my strengths on more important competitions this year like the World Shotgun Championships at Lonato, Italy, in May and the World Cup Shooting Final in Dubai in November," said the Delhi-based shooter.

"Nevertheless, each day that I walk into my sports field I try and give my best, the overall idea being to constantly compete and win against the world's best so as to raise the average standard of our performance at the world stage," Rathore said.

In the women's air pistol event, Sarao won the bronze with a score of 472.5 (372+100.5).

That is wonderful news. Congratulations to Pemba. May be this is not such a good news for all those who would have liked to see a different last name but it is for me. Stop sulking. This is time to rejoice for all Nepalis, that is, if you are a Nepali truly at heart.

If it had been in Nepal, the buggers at the Sports Council and the Education Ministry would have selected their own cousin instead of Pemba Tamang from a far away ethnic group.

This brings a serious question why Tamangs do so well outside Nepal than in their own country. The simple answer is: there are continuous discriminations of ethnic groups like Tamangs. Not that these posts have always added glory to Nepal as we have seen a book thief as ambassador and chhori bechuwa as Secretary and so many other bechuwas. Even with such a large number of population of Tamangs in Nepal, so far, mind you so far, there is no Ambassador, no CDO or a Secretary or a General in the army for that matter.

The Tamangs were relegated to miseries during the Rana oligarchy as some brave Tamangs ventured to go against the Ranas in the beginning of the Rana rule. The Tamangs got nothing during the khokro Panchayati regime. Their landholdings were reduced from 90% to 20% in the hands of government officials in connivance with cunning local residents from so called privileged groups who were actually cheats through forged documents.

You only need to talk to some Tamangs and you can see how deprived they feel by the succeeding governments and you are dealing with a high voltage issue.

It only proves my conviction right that if the Maoists had not come, there would have been an ethnic strife like the one in Sri Lanka. The state with all their military might can suppress the Maoists but you cannot stop the growing discontentment of the Tamangs demanding the social justice and equality.

I know it is lot of words to say but it is in the larger interest of the country that deserves timely attention to this issue that is like a ticking time bomb.

Very well said, Mardshab. One just has to look across the border at Sikkim and Darjeeling to get the gist of your remark.

I salute P. Tamang's success, it is indeed a matter that all Nepalese should be proud of.
MadShab, you are right ethnic communities have long been marginilized, now is the right time to bring them to the mainstream of nation building task. Unless active and pasive discrimination in any form persists, grieviences will remain and such grieviences can easily be exploited by vested interests, a sad but bitter truth.

Another brother wins medal

NEW DELHI, MARCH 18. Jaspal Rana won the gold in his pet event ? centre fire pistol ? as India wound up its campaign with a 1-2 finish on the last day of pistol and rifle competitions in the sixth Commonwealth shooting championship in Melbourne on Friday.

Adding Friday's tally, India's total medal count stood at 27 including 12 gold, nine silver and six bronze medals.

Rana, who won the gold in the 2001 edition in Bisley, England, tallied 585/600 to beat the challenge of veteran compatriot Ashok Pandit (576) who took silver. David Moor of Australia finished third with a total of 572 points.

India added another bronze medal to its kitty through Sushil Ghale in the men's free rifle three position. Ghale totalled 1235.3 (1147 + 88.3) to finish behind New Zealand's Slinn 1242.7 (1145 + 97.7) and Australian Brown M. 1237.9 (1145 + 92.9), the National Rifle Association of India said in a press release here. ? PTI