Indians For Guns

Mulayam tells governor to show "restraint"

BS Reporter / Lucknow November 24, 2006



The ongoing war of words between UP Governor TV Rajeswar and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav seems to be degenerating to new levels.

While the governor, in his address to top police officers today, said "kidnapping industry" was thriving in UP, Singh accused the governor of being partial and asked him to observe restraint.

The governor, whose comments on the state's law and order situation have caused discomfiture to the government on many occasions in the past, was harsh on the state police too.

He said he had received more than 1,000 complaints against policemen in the recent civic polls. He said over 350 licences for carbine, a prohibited weapon, had been issued by the state government.

"The governor is interfering in day-to-day administration. Those expecting impartial conduct from others should also prove that they are impartial," Singh shot back.

"The governor may have received over a thousand complaints against the conduct of the police force but all of them may not be true," he said.

"There could be some isolated cases of policemen committing irregularities and my government is willing to take action if given specific instances," Singh said at a press conference here today.

"The governor has, in the past, indulged himself too much in making unsavoury comments on the government's actions and it does not bode well for the post he is holding, he said.

Singh advised the governor not to be "misled by disinformation" campaign of the Congress and BJP, who he said "are out to damage the reputation of Samajwadi Party-led government in UP."

Incidentally, this happened on a day when Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswamy is in town to review preparedness for the Assembly polls.

The Opposition parties, which met the CEC today, told him that free and fair polls were not possible under the Samajwadi Party government.

The parties urged the CEC to conduct the polls under stringent monitoring and with the help of only central paramilitary forces.

The Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party demanded elections under the President's rule, but the Congress said the polls should be held under the strict supervision of the EC and central forces.

This article is on page 9.In the physical copy of paper Mulayam Singh is Quoted as "Singh said carbine licenses were issued by the centre.Even I have a carbine the license for which was issued in 1974 by the then congress government at centre."

Could somebody please define what is meant by a `carbine` in this context ? Seems unlikely that it is being used in it`s traditional meaning - that of a short barrelled rifle - as most modern rifles qualify as `carbines` in that definition.

Well, there seems to be some discrepancy here. As per current rules, the state government CANNOT of it's own accord issue a license for ANY PB firearm. PB arms license applications are to be cleared first by the local licensing authority, then sent to the Sate Home Ministry and THEN FINALLY they MUST be sent for approval to the Central Government - Ministry of Home Affairs.

The actual license can only be issued by the MHA - however, once it has been granted, the subsequent 3 yearly renewals are done by the local licensing authority.

Therefore the Hon'ble Governor's reference must be to the State Government recommending these cases to the Central Government, which would have actually had to approve them. Of course the Government at the Centre is a Congress party led coalition government... Mr. Singh (above) is accusing the Governor of being partial to this very party...

Another illustration (if we needed any) how truly twisted politics is...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Grumpy,

The term "carbine" in India is usually used in reference to the M1 .30 cal semi-automatic carbine. Sort of how "Jeep" is used to define all four wheel drives here...

HTH

Cheers!
Abhijeet

And oh! I forgot to clarify, the .30 cal M1 carbine cartridge, by virtue of having been once in use with the Indian military is classified as a PB calibre. Also, since the .30 cal M1 carbine is a semi-automatic long gun, it is in of itself a PB firearm.

A true double whammy - so there can be no possible confusion as to this gun ever being entered on a regular arms license, it is a PB gun whichever way you look at it.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Thanks for the explaination Abhijeet. Seems a strange gun to ban - for whatever reason. Fun to shoot but one of the less lethal calibres around due to it being so gutless. Banned in the UK as well but only by virtue of the fact that only semi-automatic .22rf rifles are permitted.
As regards `twisted` politics: A friend said in an email earlier today that `Gov`mints are dumb`. He was referring to certain things - firearms related - being allowed in the UK but not in the US, and vice versa. Governments - almost universally - have a bizarrely `twisted` attitude to firearms legislation.

Yep! They're certainly fun to shoot Dad has one and, I've shot it a fair bit...

I personally think it's an excellent gun for home defence - It's small, light, next to no recoil, 15 shot magazine and a semi-auto to boot!

Cheers!
Abhijeet