Mumbai: A gathering at Jantar Mantar in Delhi is been held by a group of hockey greats to demand the Bharat Ratna for hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. Following the meet, the likes of Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal, Ajitpal Singh, Zafar Iqbal, MK Kaushik, AB Subbaiah, Mohammed Riaz, Ashish Ballal, Mukesh Kumar and Dilip Tirkey plan to submit memorandums to the President, Prime Minister, home minister and sports minister regarding their long-standing demand to honor Major Dhyan Chand with the highest civilian award.
In a statement released to press, Dilip Tirkey, a former India captain and a member of the Rajya Sabha said, “We have been trying to get the honor for the man who is acknowledged for his greatness as a sportsman. It’s sad that we are still demanding for an honor which he should have got long back,”
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 honor. 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.
August 29 is widely celebrated as National Sports Day, as it is the birthday of this Hockey legend and hence the best time to pay tribute to the former player. It is not for the first time that such a demand will be made. His name had earlier been suggested for the highest honor by the sports ministry two 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 had said.
However, the honour was bestowed upon master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao by the PMO in 2014.