Punjab offers to sponsor hockey team
By IANSTuesday, January 12, 2010
CHANDIGARH - The Punjab government Tuesday offered to sponsor the Indian hockey team for the World Cup tournament in New Delhi next month.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also president of Hockey Punjab, made the offer if the sports ministry gave the responsibility to Punjab.
Commenting on demands for more money by Indian hockey players, Badal said: “It is unfortunate that a game that brought India its first medal in the Olympic Games has to suffer this treatment. Punjab has been a nursery of hockey and would like India to regain its lost glory in this game.”
He said that if Punjab was given the responsibility to sponsor the hockey team, the state would organise conditioning camps in the state.
Talks between Indian hockey players, who have been on strike at the national conditioning camp in Pune, and Hockey India officials failed once again Tuesday.
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January 12, 2010: 9:42 pm
It is a very positive offer and step by the Punjab government to sponsor the Indian hockey team for the World Cup tournament in New Delhi next month and must be appreciated by all. In India, the team members/players for any games were always selected on so-called secular lines since about 30-35 years on the basis of the political idea and the policy invented by then PM Indra Gandhi, out of jealousy with and to let down Punjabis especially Sikhs ignoring their merit. Similarly, the awards, medals etc were distributed or given equally, ignoring the merit to remove the inferiority complex of people of other states to boost their morale in all fields under the garb of the policy. The same policy was being adopted unchecked for the recruitment in the Indian armed forces since long at the cost of national larger interest so far. Earlier, the national hockey team used to be most of the players from the undivided Punjab. The result of the political policy and the jealousy factor by ignoring the merit in order to demoralize Punjabis of undivided Punjab is before all of you. The merit in the selection of players in any games and the merit for the recruitment in the Indian armed forces should not have been ignored to see the bad days and the policy of arbitrariness must be shunned or get rid of it as early as possible hereafter. Submission by |
Balbir Singh Sooch, Advocate, Ludhiana