Times of India: ‘Sad we have to demand an award for Dhyan Chand’

By Biswajyoti Brahma

NEW DELHI: A group of hockey greats will be meeting in the Capital on Sunday afternoon to demand the Bharat Ratna for hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. It’s not for the first time that such a demand will be made. But come Sunday, legends of the game like Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal, Ajitpal Singh, Zafar Iqbal, MK Kaushik, AB Subbaiah, Mohammed Riaz, Ashish Ballal, Mukesh Kumar and Dilip Tirkey will get together at Jantar Mantar to ask the government to fulfill their long-standing demand.

“We have been trying to get the honour for the man who is acknowledged for his greatness as a sportsman. It’s sad that we are still demanding for an honour which he should have got long back,” Tirkey , a former India captain and a member of the Rajya Sabha, told TOI.

Dhyan Chand won three Olympic gold medals in hockey – in 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles) and 1936 (Berlin). “All Indian sportsman and the Indian people want him to get the honour. We tried hard in the past and he was close to getting it. But he did not. It’s an irony that his greatness is acknowledged everywhere but not in his own country,” added Tirkey.

Tirkey said the group’s attempt is a tribute to the former player, whose birthday on August 29 is celebrated as National Sports Day .Following the gathering at Jantar Mantar, the former players plan to submit memorandums to the President, Prime Minister, home minister and sports minister.

Dhyan Chand’s name had earlier been suggested for the highest honour by the sports ministry three years ago. In a letter written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2013, the then sports minister Jitendra Singh had recommended his name as the “most deserving” sportsperson for the award. “Late Major Dhyan Chand is the most deserving sportsperson for Bharat Ratna, as he fulfills the criteria of exceptional service performance of highest order in the field of sports which made the country proud. It was for his amazing performance that he was nicknamed “hockey wizard”, the minister’s letter said.

The PMO had then decided to confer the honour that year on cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao.