CWG champion shooter caught in office crossfire
NEW DELHI: Anisa Sayyed, Commonwealth Games shooting champion from Haryana, has alleged harassment by senior officials of the state sports department where she is employed.
The pistol shooter, who has taken part in more than 40 international competitions, has alleged the department hasn’t paid her salary for the past two years, which is having a serious impact on her shooting career. She is now contemplating quitting her job.
“The job was supposed to help Anisa financially. If that is not happening, she doesn’t see any logic in continuing in the department,” her husband Mubarak Husain said. She has now been charge-sheeted for being absent from work without permission. A copy of that letter is with Hindustan Times.
Anisa, competing in the 25m sports pistol event, won two gold medals in the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, a bronze in the 2014 Incheon Asiad and silver in that year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Anisa said she was appointed assistant director in Haryana’s sports department in June, 2015 on sports quota and posted in Faridabad. But within four months she was transferred to Sonepat.
She has alleged it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage her sporting career. Faridabad is close to the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges, which would have helped her train without a hitch.
Anisa refused to join the Sonepat office, and wrote to Director Sports: “Since there is no shooting range for small bore in Sonepat, my pet event is 25m sports pistol, it will be difficult to travel from Sonepat to Delhi’s shooting ranges for training on a regular basis. The department should reconsider the move.”
NO PAY
The department’s response was to stop her salary. “It has been two-and-a-half years (since I joined) the sports department, but I got salary for only two/three months,” she said in a statement.
Things went from bad to worse. The Faridabad district sports officer refused to sanction her leave when she went for competitions while the head office in Panchkula didn’t respond to her communication. “The situation was tense and just added to distractions,” said her husband.
A departmental inquiry has now been initiated against her.
The initial hearing was slated to be held on October 31, but Anisa expressed her inability to attend as she was unwell. The new date has been fixed for November 27. Despite repeated efforts, Director Sports, Jagdeep Singh, didn’t respond to calls and text message. Haryana sports minister Arun Vij wasn’t available for comments.