Rajya Sabha members want Bharat Ratna for Dhyan Chand

New Delhi, May 5

The Rajya Sabha members on Thursday demanded that hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand be conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour. During the Zero Hour, Samajwadi Party’s Chandrapal Singh Yadav raised the issue of the ace hockey player being denied the highest civilian honour despite several countries and personalities, including Adolf Hitler, praising him for his expertise with the hockey stick.

Dhyan Chand had helped India win three Olympics gold medals between 1928 and 1936. “Major Dhyan Chand received awards and accolades across the world, including from Adolf Hitler and the British government. But in our country, he has still not been appreciated as he should have been for making India a world power in hockey,” Yadav said.

He said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, had called for conferring Bharat Ratna on Dhyan Chand.

Yadav's demand was supported by members across party lines, including Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurien. “It has full support of the House,” Kurien said.

In March this year, Dilip Tirkey, a former Indian hockey captain and Rajya Sabha member, had raised the issue of discrimination against sports like kabaddi and hockey. He cited Dhyan Chand’s case as an example to buttress his argument. — PTI