Parliamentarians have raised demands that the title of Bharat Ratna be awarded to Hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand.
During Zero Hour today, Chandrapal Singh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party initiated the polylogue, alluding to the negligence of the authorities that has seen the country’s greatest sporting hero miss out on the Bharat Ratna till date.
Despite earning accolades from several countries for his brilliant performances with the stick, which included Adolf Hitler’s offer of the post of Colonel in his German Army, Dhyan Chand has not been conferred with India’s highest civilian honour yet.
The magician who spearheaded the Indian attack to win three consecutive Olympic golds from 1928 to 1936, Dhyan Chand holds the record of scoring a majestic 570 goals from 185 matches during his career.
Also read: Dhyan Chand: 10 interesting facts
Yadav’s statement found support in MPs from various parties present at the Rajya Sabha today, including Deputy Chairman P J Kurien.
Earlier this year, in March, former hockey player and BJD representative Dilip Tirkey had raised the same demand. A nation often criticised for being heavily biased towards cricket, India could see some much-needed encouragement for traditional favourites like hockey and kabaddi, should the decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on Major Dhyan Chand be settled.
