It's a shame for a nation where a national icon was first beaten up in the corridor of the National Shooting Complex in Gulshan and then picked off to the nearest police station for another round of merciless beating with every conceivable object before being sent to the court of justice on charges of 'assaulting the protectors of the law'.

But the events that transpired in the shooting complex at around 1pm, where the demure and self-effacing Asif along with 29 other shooters were training for the next Asiad in Doha, belies the police version of the holocaust sparked following a row between a guard of the complex and the driver of a high police official.

It was learnt from eyewitnesses that Asif along with other shooters were trying to save the complex's guard from the police wrath when the law enforcers swung their batons on to the athletes. The police led by a sub-inspector were so furious that they even entered the dormitory of the shooters and when they left they took away five people including Asif and Shoaib, whose forehead was still bleeding when he was released on bail along with Asif in the afternoon.

Police brutality against sports personality in the country is nothing new. Last April our insane police made international headlines when they beat sports journalists during the second Test in Chittagong against world champions Australia.

But the cruelty of the latest incident belies every civic norm in a 'so called' democratic country.

* We not only strongly condemn the heinous acts, but also call to the sports fraternity to declare October 2, 2006 as Black Monday.

* We also demand outright rejection of the police version on the incident. Besides, from our previous bitter experience we want to reject any 'police inquiry'. We strongly feel that the time has come for a judicial inquiry into the barbarism.

After the Second World War, every Chinese wanted to be an athlete because they believed it would give them an opportunity to fly their national flag above the rest of the world. They believed that winning something for their country was equal to being a martyr in a war.

Asif Hossain Khan has not only won a Commonwealth shooting gold for a country where sporting achievements are few and far between. He is also a national hero by his own right. And any insult to a hero of a nation is a disgrace for the whole nation.

Asif was preparing himself for the Doha Games. Upon release from the custody, he was stammering that his Asiad assignment was all but over.

So, it is about time that the culprits were brought to justice. Because if incidents like these become commonplace, we might not have another athlete waving the Red and Green on a sporting field again!