Jabalpur: India is celebrating 114th birth anniversary of one of the greatest hockey players in history, Mayor Dhyan Chand, on Thursday.
The legendary hockey player was born in 1905 on August 29 and his birth anniversary is celebrated as National Sports Day in the country. Dhyan Chand won three Olympic gold medals for the country in the years 1928, 1932, and 1936. In his sports career spanning over 22 years, he scored over 400 goals.
However, it is quite ironic that the hockey legend who lends his name to one of these prestigious Indian sporting awards is yet to be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, which is nation’s highest civilian honour.
Talking about the same, Ashok Dhyan Chand, who is the son of Major Dhyan Chand, expressed that his father deserves Bharat Ratna but the government is not paying heed to the matter.
"The whole world recognizes Dhyan Chand's contribution to Hockey and every hockey fanatic wants Bharat Ratna to be awarded to Major Dhyan Chand," Ashok said in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat.
"Dhyan Chand changed the face of hockey. He was the first one to be awarded India's third highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1956. Dhyan Chand produced many magical moments during his hockey career and took the game on a whole different level. Hence, it makes me wonder why Major Dhyan Chand has not been awarded Bharat Ratna yet," Ashok added.
Interestingly, ever since the rules were amended adding sports as a category for Bharat Ratna in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar has been the first and till now the only sportsperson to be conferred with country’s highest civilian honour.
But many people, including big sports personalities, are of the opinion that Dhyan Chand should have been awarded Bharat Ratna ahead of Tendulkar. In fact, many former Olympians also led a protest demanding Bharat Ratna for him in 2016. More than 80 MPs also demanded the same in 2011.
Meanwhile, Ashok praised PM Narendra Modi for launching Fit India Movement on Dhyan Chand's 114th birth anniversary. Watch the complete interview to know more.
