'We should boycott their ammunition' - Jaspal Rana after exclusion of the sport from Commonwealth Games 2022

Indian pistol shooting champion, Jaspal Rana has suggested to NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) to boycott products made in England. He said that it would be the perfect tit for tat for the exclusion of the sport of Shooting from the Commonwealth Games. In an interview with IANS, Rana asked for all the products made in England to be boycotted.

He also said that they had excluded the sport because India had been doing exceptionally well in the event.

"To begin with, we ourselves are responsible in a big way (by giving such superb performances in the previous editions of the CWG). Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Vedpathak, Suma Shirur, Mansher Singh and everyone who did well in the Commonwealth Games are responsible," Rana said.

"The way we have won medals in CWG in the last two decades, I think the people were not able to take it in a sporting way. So, for them, the best way was to eliminate the sport. That'll get their medals tally somewhere," Rana added. The Commonwealth Games Federation and the organizers decided to drop to sport only to face severe backlash.

He admitted that even though we make claims of boycotting their products, we are not able to because of getting very much used to them.

"What hurts me most is the fact that we issue threats of boycotting the games, but we cannot boycott their products because we are so used to them," Rana said to IANS. He expressed displeasure and disagreed to the claim that the sport was excluded because of lack of funds.

"I don't believe in protests. I believe in drawing the line longer. If CWG is boycotting shooters and trying to kill the sport, we should boycott their ammunition. I know the federation (National Rifle Association of India) won't like it, but it should ban anything that comes from England," Rana said. He added that one must follow the path of Mahatma Gandhi in this case.

On being asked about his favorite moments in Commonwealth games, he came up with many instances.

"I have several, right from 1994 to 1998 to Manchester 2002 to Melbourne 2006. All those are lovely memories and those are being killed by just a handful of people," Rana said. He concluded by saying the fact that Comenwealth Games used to be a stepping stone for achieving bigger things.