High drama unfolded on Thursday at the send-off ceremony for the Indian contingent headed to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, with several para-shooters protesting outside the venue and alleging corruption and manipulation in the selection process.The protesters were met by senior Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) officials, including president Devendra Jhajharia, who tried to persuade them to call off the demonstration, news agency PTI reported. The shooters, however, continued their protest, raising slogans before explaining their grievances.The PCI rejected the allegations, saying the team for the Aichi-Nagoya Para-Asian Games, scheduled from October 18 to 24, was selected transparently, entirely on merit and according to the prescribed criteria.Among those leading the protest were para-shooters Sandeep Kumar and Akash, who questioned their exclusion from the contingent despite their rankings and performances.Sandeep is ranked third in Asia, while Akash is the top-ranked shooter on the continent. They also questioned the inclusion of Rudransh Khandelwal, who they said is ranked 14th in Asia.The protest later moved to the porch area of the venue where the send-off ceremony was scheduled to take place. India head coach Satyanarayana and Jhajharia spoke to the athletes and asked them to end the protest, but the shooters remained firm.Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya attended the ceremony while the protest was still underway.Akash alleged that his credentials were overlooked because he had not named shooting coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal as his coach.“That is why he cut my name. I have been here for two months. He keeps saying that we are doing your work. Every day, he says that we are doing your work, but he is not doing anything,” Akash alleged.Sandeep, a P4 50m free pistol SH1 shooter, said he did not receive any assurance from Jhajharia even after showing documents supporting his case.Asked what Jhajharia had told him, Sandeep said, “Nothing.”“We showed the papers to Jhajharia ji and other PCI officials. Rahul Swami, Vivek Saini, who is a para-shooter and has not played a single shooting match, has been made an expert. He misguides people,” Sandeep alleged, as quoted by PTI.He also made allegations against Nautiyal, claiming that the coach sought a 20 per cent commission from government cash awards in return for helping athletes secure selection.Sandeep also questioned why the athletes were being asked to end their protest at the last moment, saying they had been raising their concerns for several days.“They said that the Asian Games send-off ceremony is today’s programme. Now they are telling us not to hold this protest. They said, till 2:30 pm, ‘we will send your name in the list’. So how will they send our names now, when we have been sending them for so many days?” he said.Akash claimed that the sports ministry’s guidelines required the top six athletes to be considered for selection and alleged that the criteria had not been followed.“We will provide you with the documents. They (those selected) have not played internationally. And in the national selection trial that has taken place, the scores are being changed,” Akash alleged.“There are people in para shooting who cannot even become members, yet they have been made officials. We want justice,” he added.The shooters had submitted a representation to the Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Wednesday, seeking an urgent, high-level independent inquiry into what they described as “illicit monetary extortion”, “brazen corruption” and violation of the ministry’s guidelines by PCI officials and its Shooting Technical Committee (STC).Among their most serious allegations was that athletes were being pressured to pay a 20 per cent commission from government cash awards as a condition for selection. They also alleged that international quota places and qualifying scores were manipulated to favour certain shooters.
