Tips for Nawab saab, the hunter

Times of India , Thursday, June 16, 2005
Correspondent : PERVEZ IQBAL SIDDIQUI
LUCKNOW: "UP mein chahe raja ho ya rank, sab ko barabar chhoot hai shikar karne ki, basharte hiran (shikar) ko koi aetraaz na ho," (In UP no one objects to hunting, provided the deer - or any other animal one is hunting - has no objections). This was how a hunting freak in Lucknow described the hunting scenario in UP in reference to Salman Khan and Nawab Pataudi’s brush with law enforcement agencies over the issue. "The bottomline of all such issues is that the locals of the area where one goes for hunting should be taken into confidence. And, every time there is any miss on this front, the hunter ends up as a Salman Khan or a Nawab Pataudi," he says, wishing to be identified as Farooq. "In Salman Khan’s case, it was merely because he was a guest of a particular section of the local populace and had dared to venture into the area which was an unmarked domain of the other group," Farooq says, adding: "and even in Pataudi’s case, it would not be surprising if the entire issue turns out to be a dispute of territory than poaching - as it is being made out to be." Playing with the triggers ever since his father took him for the adventure sport when he was barely as tall as a double barrel gun, Farooq has been on innumerable "Shikars" and not once had he landed in any problem, he claims. "For every time we went for a hunt, I made it sure that the villagers had no objections and this could be done by generously sharing the kill, its hide and flesh," Farooq suggests, claiming that this was a tested and proven policy. "That was the case that led to the arrest of the personal driver of a minister in Mayawati cabinet in Chinhat area," Raza recollects. Farooq still remembers how he was trapped by villagers while returning from a "Shikaar" and how an additional district magistrate (ADM) who was with them, helped to steer clear of the crises with the help of the police. About the gadgetry, Munne Mian of Faizabad reveals: "In UP it’s either a descendent of Zamindar family in Bara Banki or a mafia-turned-politician of eastern UP who are known to have night vision telescopic devices since they are expensive. We generally use search lights for hunting," he says.For Raza, another veteran of the game, a good check on black marketing of prohibited bore cartridges like LG, SG and SSG bores, can also come as an effective deterrent. "There are very few people like sports persons and their ilk who get these bullets on government quota, at the rate of Rs 2. Bulk purchases through quotas land in the black market where each bullet fetches anything around Rs 300 easily," he reveals.
 
SOURCE : Times of India, Thursday, June 16, 2005
 


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