New Delhi: Commonwealth Games gold medalist shooter Pemba Tamang, who was stopped from boarding a flight to China for the World Cup as his passport had an “invalid” stapled visa, will have to skip the event after he failed to get a fresh visa.
Tamang, who was stopped by immigration officials in Mumbai from boarding a flight to Beijing for the April 17 to 24 event as his passport had the “invalid” visa, which China issues to Indians from Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
Since the Rapid Fire shooter’s event at the World Cup starts only on April 21, he tried to get a fresh visa but could not.
“The Federation tried to get a visa for me but it couldn’t so now I will have to skip the World Cup. I am very disappointed,” the shooter, who won a gold in the Men’s 25 metre rapid fire pistol (Pairs) with Vijay Kumar at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, told reporters.
Tamang, a resident of Arunachal, said he was not aware of the fact that the Ministry of External Affairs had declared stapled visas as invalid for travelling out of the country in an advisory issued last year in November.
“I had travelled to China on a paper visas on three previous occasions and I was wasn’t aware that the government had declared them invalid. If I had known, I would not have accepted the visa when it was issued to me,” Tamang said.
Recalling the sequence of events in Mumbai, Tamang, who is part of a 28-member team for the World Cup, said he was stopped by the immigration after checking in.
“We were boarding the flight from Mumbai for the World Cup. We were first supposed to go to Bangkok and from there to Beijing. Immigration officials told me that my visa was not valid as the government does not accept stapled visas.
“I tried to explain that I had travelled on such a visa three times earlier but they said the new guidelines don’t allow it anymore,” he said from Pune.
The National Rifles Association of India’s secretary Rajeev Bhatia said, “He was issued a paper visa because he is from Arunachal while the rest of the team got the normal pasted visas.”
“It is true that he has travelled to China in the past on a stapled visa but the government guidelines right now prohibit that. We tried getting a visa for him again but couldn’t and he has been told to go back to Pune now,” he added.
Last year, the External Affairs Ministry had slammed China for issuing separate visas “to certain categories of Indian nationals on the basis of their domicile, ethnicity and/or place of issue of the passport.”
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.