Dear Editor,
It was a remarkable achievement by son of soil to clinch bronze medal in 50 metre three position rifle shooting in recently concluded Asian Games 2014 at Incheon in South Korea. It is of course a matter of great pride for J and K to be decorated with first ever Asian Games medal to a State sportsman.
It is all hardwork of great hero who belongs to far flung area of Jammu and Kashmir i.e., Bhallesa, Bhadarwah where one has to cover miles on foot to reach the destinations. The area also lacks proper communication, transportation and as per Chain Singh himself he has to cover miles in snowy weather to reach the destination for his training. Inspite of all hazards and minimum resources at his disposal he became victorious at the Asian level games where lot of competition among the international players of the world countries is seen.
History reveals that Chenab Valley area i.e., Bhadarwah, Kishtwar, Doda etc has produced many of intellectuals, politicians, think tanks, educationists, brave soldiers, sportsmen inspite of hard conditions prevailing in these far flung areas. There is no shortage of talent in these areas.
What is astonishing is that the State administration and sports authority did not show proper interest in the historic moment knowing that it was J and K’s first Asian medal till today and credit goes to Hav Chain singh, the son of soil. Neither Chain Singh was honoured by Sports Council of State nor J and K administration only JKRA felicitated Asian Games bronze medallist. It is worthwhile to mention here that when every state government in India announce special prizes for the outstanding sportsmen, medal winners be it Asian or Olympics why higher ups in our State did not bother to honour the Asian medallist or to prize the great hero of Chenab Valley. It is need of the hour that the administration should pay a heed to honour the Asian bronze medallist of the State so that a clear message could go for the upcoming generations, youth sportspersons and other talent in different fields and their moral could be boosted to hard work especially the upcoming generation from the far flung areas.
Certainly the administration will look into the above lines for betterment of sports and other fields of the State.
Kaushal Kotwal
SDAO Retd
Jammu