Safe for Shooters, Not Cricketers? Bangladesh to Send Shooting Contingent to India

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The Bangladesh government has given its shooters the green light to participate in the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championships in India next month. This decision follows their earlier refusal to send the national cricket team to the T20 World Cup in India due to security concerns.

The shooting event is scheduled from February 2 to 14 at the Dr Karni Singh Range, with participation from over 300 shooters from 17 countries.

Bangladesh allows Shooters to travel India, raises security concern for cricketers

In contrast, the T20 World Cup will take place across venues in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. Bangladesh's withdrawal from this cricket tournament raised questions about their shooting team's participation. However, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) confirmed that Bangladeshi shooters will indeed compete in the championship.

Bangladesh Shooters Ready for Competition

Bangladesh will be represented by two rifle shooters: Arefin Shaira, a 21-year-old women's shooter, and Md Robiul Islam, a 26-year-old Olympian. They will participate in three events, including individual competitions and a mixed team event. The NRAI has been in constant communication with Bangladesh's federation officials to ensure smooth participation.

NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia stated, "So far there is no news that the Bangladesh team is not coming. Their team is coming, no doubt about it." He added that the Ministry of External Affairs has cleared the team's participation and forwarded it to the Indian embassy for visa processing.

Security Concerns Addressed

A report from Dhaka's Daily Sun mentioned that Bangladesh's Youth and Sports Ministry issued an official order on Wednesday, allowing the shooting team to travel to India. The government believes that the indoor setting of the Karni Singh Range provides adequate security for the event.

The decision comes despite Bangladesh cancelling its cricket team's tour of India for the T20 World Cup due to security concerns. The International Cricket Council (ICC) later announced that Scotland would replace Bangladesh in the tournament after it was deemed unfeasible to relocate matches to Sri Lanka at short notice.

The ICC maintained that there was no credible security threat to Bangladesh's cricket team or supporters in India. They decided not to alter the published schedule of events, despite requests from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) following Mustafizur Rahman's exclusion from the Indian Premier League.

This development highlights how different sports are being treated differently concerning security assessments. While cricket faced hurdles, shooting has been deemed safe enough for participation by Bangladeshi authorities.

With inputs from PTI