New groups mobilize as Indians embrace right to bear arms

[mundaire]

New groups mobilize as Indians embrace the right to bear arms
By Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 1, 2010

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian gun owners are coming out of the shadows for the first time to mobilize, U.S.-style, against proposed new curbs on bearing arms.

When gunmen attacked 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including two five-star hotels and a train station, Mumbai resident Kumar Verma sat at home glued to the television, feeling outraged and unsafe.

Before the end of December, Verma and his friends had applied for gun licenses. He read up on India's gun laws and joined the Web forum Indians for Guns. When he got his license seven months later, he bought a black, secondhand, snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver with a walnut grip.

"I feel safe wearing it in my ankle holster every day," said Verma, 27, who runs a family business selling fire-protection systems. "I have a right to self-protection, because random street crime and terrorism have increased. The police cannot be there for everybody all the time. Now I am a believer in the right to keep and bear arms."

Verma said he plans to join the recently formed National Association for Gun Rights India to lobby against new gun controls that the government has proposed, blaming the proliferation of both licensed and illegal weapons for a rise in crime.

Although India's 1959 Arms Act gives citizens the legal right to own and carry guns, it is not a right enshrined in the country's constitution. Getting a license is a cumbersome process, and guns cannot be bought over the counter -- requirements that gun owners describe as hangovers from the colonial past, when the British rulers disarmed their Indian subjects to head off rebellion.

In December, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed several amendments to the Arms Act that would make it even harder to acquire a gun license, restrict the number of people eligible for nationwide licenses and curtail the amount of ammunition a gun owner can amass.

An official said that the ministry has called for public input. But in the meantime, the proposals have given rise to a nascent gun rights movement modeled on the strategies of the United States' National Rifle Association and echoing its rhetoric of civil rights, dignity and self-protection.

"We are outraged. We are not murderers. Instead of going after real criminals, the government is indulging in window dressing by bringing in gun control laws that target law-abiding citizens who have licensed guns," said Abhijeet Singh, 37, a software engineer who started Indians for Guns and is the coordinator of the new gun rights association.

"We want to remove the stigma on licensed gun owners," Singh said. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 87 percent of murders by firearms in India in 2007 involved illegally held guns.

There is no official tally of legal gun owners, but Singh cited a rough estimate of 4 million to 5 million.

Last week, the National Association for Gun Rights India began meeting with lawmakers and consulting lawyers in a bid to stall the proposals. The group's president is a 39-year-old lawmaker, Naveen Jindal, who studied at the University of Texas business school in Dallas. Inspired by American students' displays of patriotism, Jindal earlier launched a successful campaign for Indians' right to display the national flag outside their homes and offices.

Indian security experts appear dismissive of the group's efforts. "There is no place for a gun rights movement in India," said Julius Ribeiro, a former police officer who comments on security issues. "That kind of debate may work in America, but it will not work here, because laws are misused and guns can easily fall into the wrong hands. It can get dangerous in India."

Gun rights advocates respond -- using language familiar to Americans -- that guns are a deterrent to crime.

"An armed society is a polite society," said Rahoul Rai, a member of the campaign. He said the movement also reflects the rise of an Indian middle class that can "voice its fears about rising crime, interpret the constitution to articulate their rights to self-protection and bring like-minded people together through technology."

Shahid Ahmad, who runs a Web site called the Gun Geek , said the process of getting a gun license in India is so burdensome that it encourages corruption. To hasten the process, he said, many applicants ask politicians to put in a word in their favor, or attempt to bribe officials and police officers.

To illustrate the point, gun advocates refer to a 2008 incident in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The clamor for gun licenses was so high, according to news media, that officials tried to induce men with large families to participate in a vasectomy program by promising a license in return.

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[hvj1]

Well,well, well, we are making waves arent we? Kudos to Abhijeet the Lone Ranger whose unflagging spirit and amazing tenacity has raised the issue on the radar. India is changing and changing rapidly, sometimes too rapidly for those entrenched in decades old babudom thinking. Being dismissive of anyones rights is the classic symptom of those at the helm of institutionalised tyrany. (Yes Abhijeet, your suggested reading has gone down deep).

[hamiclar01]

i would have loved to ask mr reberio how many of his plods can shoot straight on a good day, never mind under stress.

[Amit357]

Mr J.Riberio plz ans a very simple question,what measures did Mr KPS Gill { who took over as DGP of Punjab} take and scaled down the miltancy in Punjab where Mr Riberio failed.HE armed the basic citizenry of Punjab,the people who were getting buthered by Militants like sheep were now Armed Citizens,its very easy to get tough with a guy who is unarmed and helpless,try it with a guy who is armed maybe with an inferior weapon,but the ARMED CITIZEN is goona shoot back and that is what exactly is the need of the hour.Hope with Mr Naveen Jindal's blessings this country turns into a true democracy.

[m24]

My heartfelt thanks to whoever made this article happen. Now, to get this into the Indian dailies.

Regards

[mundaire]

Gents please don't lets get into slapping each other's back's over this... Ms. Rama Lakshmi has done a stellar job in presenting a balanced viewpoint, but others may not be as unbiased as Rama! We have an uphill task, in terms of remoulding public & media views... lets put our collective heads & contacts together, who knows, we may change things sooner rather than later

Cheers!
Abhijeet

-- 01 Feb 2010 10:18 pm --

P.S. - Deepak, don't roll your eyes buddy, everything will come at the right time...

[shooter]

Abhijeet tum sangharsh karo
hum tumharey saath hain!!

IFG.........zindabad
NAGRI......zindabad

Arms act .......Hai HAI

Arms act ka durupyog.......... band karo band karo

Tanashahi nahi chalegi............nahi chalegi nahi chalegi!

Bharat mata ki.......... jai
Vande matram

[kanwar76]

Nicely written article,

Kudos to the lady and kudos to people who helped her write this.

-Inder

[goodboy_mentor]

Excellent article, I thank from my heart, whoever made this happen, these kind of articles are also needed regularly in Indian mainstream media.

[Vikram]

Thanks a lot to everyone who made that happen. It might be a good idea to register on Washington Post and express our thanks and views.

Mr Rebeiro forgets that threat to life is a universal phenomenon irrespective of national borders which renders a right to protection a prerequisite of a civilised society.It is a bit tragic that a person of his stature and intellect take such a dim and shallow view of of an important issue.

Thank you,Abhijeet, for posting this.


Best-
Vikram

[Sakobav]

What a splash and break out ...The Washington Post had the story before any Indian magazine..Kudos to the Ms Laxmi & Abhijeet others who made this all possible and amazing thing is I was told about this news by my colleague!!

Amit 357

Lets not trash anti's especially an upright officer and true hero like Julius Riberio..I dont agree with your comments below at all..Lets tone them down them down a bit. Dont forget it was DGP Riberio who laid down the ground work and intelligence apparatus or the foundation for the fight back. When he took over the morale of the force was in pits..He was attacked not once but twice once inside the PAP complex, where the idiots fired on him and his wife, thought they had him and second time in Romania..both times he was injured...
He succeeded in three different states Mumbai, Gujarat and Punjab..

'Mr J.Riberio plz ans a very simple question,what measures did Mr KPS Gill { who took over as DGP of Punjab} take and scaled down the miltancy in Punjab where Mr Riberio failed."

Point being many esteemed public figures will speak out against this initiative and thats all right lets take it in the stride respectfully disagree and argue against his opinion but its not acceptable to question a persons service or sound judgemental.. There are some who are above aboard and Mr Riberio is one such officer ..Gill and Riberio complemented each other..

hamiclair1

It was in Julius Riberio 's tenure that SLR A1 were issued to Punjab Police ..in a way he did teach his so called 'plods' how to stand and fight back...and they did

Vikram had previously posted a request to be careful while making posts and to reiterate again please Understand this board now is under the scanner and we have to think about comments especially the ones that can be misconstrued and public perception..


Best

[Olly]

Very grateful to Lady Rama, for the nicely composed article. More such articles and the rather unknown aspects of self defence, gun rights and dignity in our country, may start becoming visible to the masses and the politicians.

"See reason" - should be the theme !

[m24]

IFG.........zindabad
NAGRI......zindabad

Arms act .......Hai HAI

Arms act ka durupyog.......... band karo band karo

Tanashahi nahi chalegi............nahi chalegi nahi chalegi!

Bharat mata ki.......... jai
Vande matram

+1

Regards

[farhan.lateefi]

"To illustrate the point, gun advocates refer to a 2008 incident in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The clamor for gun licenses was so high, according to news media, that officials tried to induce men with large families to participate in a vasectomy program by promising a license in return."

OUCH !!

[casual shooter]

not in mp it was in up