Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 28 2009:
Denial of official travel documents by the German Consulate General in Kolkata has resulted in Manipuri marks-woman N Saini Devi missing the 3rd International Shooting Competition at a German city as well as the 40th Grand Prix Shooting Competition at Plzen in the Czech Republic.
According to sources, the German consulate General declined to issue visa to Saini Devi insisting that her participation in the competition at the German city need to be corroborated by the organisers through issuance of a confirmatory letter.
The insistence by the German Consul is said to be against prescribed norms, according to the source who maintained that Ministry concerned and the National Rifle Association of India had cleared Saini and other team members among whom one shooter each from West bengal and Bihar were also denied visas.
The Indian team had left for Germany's Hanover on April 26 where the competition is being held till May 5 .
Other team members acquired visas from other zonal consulates.
Saini Devi, who had taken part in atleast three international level competitions including at Germany and the Czech Republic in the past is said to have had endured a similar situation of visa denial that prevented her participation in a Junior level tournament at Germany's Scholl in 2006 .
Upset on her daughter missing the opportunity to compete with the world's best, Saini's father N Indrajit contended that all relevant documents and mandatory informations were furnished at the time of applying for the visa.
He further noted that insistence by the German consulate General in Kolkata this time around had never been the norm and that indian authorities would be apprised to look into the matter.