Kolkata: India’s ace doubles badminton player, Jwala Gutta expressed displeasure at the fact that she was ignored for the Padma award this year. The left-hander joins renowned cueist Pankaj Advani in the list of sports persons who have been turned a blind eye at, with respect to the Padma Awards.
She took to the social media to express her disappointment. In a Facebook post, she said, “I always wondered what was the concept of applying for a particular award, which is the most reputed award in our country. But then that’s what the procedure is. So I did apply. I applied because it’s prestigious to have the award, because I thought maybe I made the people of my country proud by my game and deserved it. I have been playing for this country for more than 15 years now and have won so many prestigious tournaments, I thought maybe I should apply. But I guess it’s never enough.”
The 33-year-old, who won a gold medal in the Delhi Commonwealth games further went on to question as to whether one needed to “apply” for an award or not. She said, “You need recommendations, recommendations that you deserve an award. You need to put in a word and get letters and the list goes on and on. But the question I still have is why do I have to apply for an award and also ask for recommendations. Aren’t my credentials good enough? Well, I am really curious about the whole system.”
She further added, “My two consecutive medals, Delhi Commonwealth Games gold and Glasgow silver is not enough. My World Championships medal is not enough. I was top 10 ranked in this women’s doubles and mixed doubles and my Superseries performance and medals in Grand Prix gold is not enough. I’m a 15-time National champion and I am also the first Indian to qualify for two events in Olympics in Indian history. I’m the first Indian to win a medal after Prakash Padukone Sir in World Championships and so many other firsts,”
Gutta further rued, “I have laid the path for doubles in Badminton for our country when nobody took it seriously, but it simply isn’t enough. Why, because I am outspoken? Because I am opinionated? Why is it that I am being denied of this particular award? Now I really don’t know whether I should be asking for this award, or that I simply don’t deserve it. If this is not enough, what is?”
World Champion cuiest Advani, who missed out on the Padma Bhushan for the second time in a row said that he did not know of any other way to get his hands on the prestigious award. Winning eight titles in the last eight years, Advani has been in terrific form off late and was even recommended by the Karnataka Government as well as by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India ( BSFI). Advani chose to not be vocal about his disappointment and hence used the social media just like Gutta and in a response to a tweet from Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel who congratulated him on winning the world title in Pune for the 28th time, he said, “Thank you Sir. Just feel after 16 world titles and 2 Asian games golds, if I’m ignored for a Padma Bhushan, don’t know what more I need to do.”
Advani was the recipient of the Padma Shri in 2009 and was also honoured with India’s highest sporting award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2006. The secretary of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), S Balasubramaniam was disappointed too at the fact that Advani was ignored for the Padma Bhushan as he felt that there was no one else who deserved the award more than the top-ranked cuiest. He said, “It is very sad to hear that he has been ignored again. It is happening year after year. It is disheartening not only for him but for the entire fraternity. Looks like lobbying is what works (to get these awards). If you go by sheer performance, Pankaj should have got it long ago. Tell me a sportsperson who consistently win world titles like Pankaj. However, we will try again next year.”
Pankaj’s brother Shree did not hide his displeasure and disappointment when he said, “This shows the government’s tunnel vision towards cricket and Olympic sports. Apparently, you can only get the awards by lobbying or if hype is created, merit is not enough. Pankaj deserves a lot more than Padma Bhushan.”
(With inputs from PTI)