Dhyan Chand Death Anniversary: Need to protect his legacy from vested interests

Today is 37th death anniversary of India’s one and only Dhyan Chand. Not many people do remember this day is not the news or regret — if it all it has been so for long — but a strong motivated lobby with matching marketing skills is sought to belittle the legacy, is.

This writer was perplexed when Siddharth Saxena (July 31, Times of India) observed the following two stunners in his full page hockey based article in the run up to Rio Olympics.

1.Major (Dhyan Chand) is spoken of in near mythical tones in hockey and national building terms partly because of his exploits at Berlin 1936 at the height of Hitler’s Nazism and largely due to the British imperialist perpetuation of a legend….

2.Dhyan Chand’s legend was fuelled by the British….

Siddharth Saxena’s prowess in hockey history is unknown to this writer. This was his lone hockey piece published in long time. Hopefully, when he gets another opportunity we will be further educated on this!

Being a chronicler of hockey for over four decades, this writer could sense someone strong enough in PR skills and money power work overtime to sell their idea that there is someone in India who deserves Bharat Ratna more than Dhyan Chand does.

Everyone has every right to say, lobby and root for. There is nothing wrong in this.

But what worries many is the attempts that seemed to have been taken to sully the image of Dhyan Chand so that their choice stands counted for Bharat Ratna as if it will be awarded to a hockey player tomorrow!

That a hockey player will get a Bharat Ratna to immortalize nation’s hockey legacy is a fallacy.

Unfortunately, this presupposes government of the day or past is nostalgic about hockey which is definitely doubtful.

A book published on foreign soils comes to the mind in this context.

The book too does the same.

It finds hole in Dhyan Chand’s feat and history. Instead of choosing to highlight its chosen hero and his life, it obviously spends more energy and time on showing how wrong, incorrect and inappropriate are the nation’s praise of Dhyan Chand, and then goes on to find fault with newspapers, televisions, Govt of India, for their bias.

Dhyan Chand’s life and times have never been researched by any institution and documented scientifically.

This vacuum is exploited now.

Defaming a person who is not alive to defend is morally incorrect.

This writer, with all humility, have to submit here that he has opened many areas hitherto untouched in Dhyan Chand’s life like locating for the first time letters related to Australian efforts to procure Dhyan Chand’s coaching services for the 1956 Olympics etc.

Therefore, on his 37th death anniversary today, I feel there is an urgent need to protect the legacy of Dhyan Chand than anytime in the past.

People who can afford to live in any country to suit the season spend hugely to defame a player who was lying the lawns of Delhi’s AIIMS hospital unattended before dying unsung.

But the irony is only truth will prevail in the end.