Bharat Ratna for Dhyan Chand, reiterates Dilip Tirkey

BHUBANESWAR: On the 41st death anniversary of Dhyan Chand on Thursday, former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey joined the campaign to award Bharat Ratna to the legendary player.

“Dhyan Chand is the greatest sportsman born in the Indian subcontinent. He was the first sportsman of our nation who single-handedly guided the national team to Olympic gold several times. During the 1936 Olympics, Hitler offered Dhyan Chand a job in Germany.

He declined the offer by saying he wanted to promote sports back in his home country,” said Tirkey, while inaugurating a signature campaign. “We are celebrating his birthday (August 29) as National Sports Day. Why is the Central government not considering his name for the Bharat Ratna award? During my tenure as Rajya Sabha MP, I started this campaign in 2016.

I am hopeful the central government will honour Dhyan Chand with Bharat Ratna,” said Tirkey. Sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik voiced his support. “Along with Dilip Trikey, I joined this campaign in 2016. My humble appeal to the central government is to confer Bharat Ratna on hockey icon Dhyan Chand,” said Patnaik, who is also a Padma Shree.

He requested sports lovers and the people of India to join the #bharatratnafordhyanchand campaign in social media. Among others, Sports and Youth Services department former assistant director Ashok Mohanty and many sports lovers were present.