Bhubaneswar: A first-ever digital campaign to demand ‘Bharat Ratna’ for the legendary hockey icon Major Dhyan Chand has been initiated by Joyeeta Roy and Prateek Kumar Mishra of ‘Signature 24 Productions’. It should be stated here that Major Dhyan Chand’s birthday, which is August 29 is celebrated as the ‘National Sports Day’ of India.
The campaign was started by BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly and actors Babushaan Mohanty and Rachel White. They had earlier said that the hockey icon should have been conferred the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on August 29, last year. Incidentally it is also the birthday of Dhyan Chand and is known as the National Sports Day.
The campaign created a buzz with eminent personalities from all walks of life and common people across India joining in to voice their support and to celebrate Dhyan Chand’s contribution to Indian hockey. The campaign even attracted the attention of the Parliament with some members stating that the iconic hockey player be conferred the ‘Bharat Ratna’. Even the Sports Minister of India, Kiren Rijiju has constantly supported the initiative of ‘Signature 24 Productions’ with messages on his Instagram account.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the campaign, ‘Signature 24 Productions’ is all set to bring together a plethora of hockey players to host a digital event with the sole agenda of celebrating the glory of Indian hockey and remembering Major Dhyan Chand and his contribution. Those who will be attending the event are Gurbux Singh and Harbinder Singh (both Olympic gold medallists). The event will also see the presence of Arjuna awardee Ashok Kumar (son of Major Dhyan Chand, Olympic bronze medallist) and current player Yuvraj Walmiki. The event will be hosted by eminent Odia actor and superstar Babushaan.
Babushaan will be seen yet again in a new avatar which is going to be quite exciting for the actor himself. “He has been excited and engaged in doing a lot of research work for the past few days to prepare the questions himself that he would be asking the players”, said Joyeeta, founder of ‘Signature 24 Productions’.
Prateek, another co-founder of Signature 24 Productions said: “A lot of unknown stories on Major Dhyan Chand will be discussed. There will also be discussions on Indian hockey in the Olympics and the eight gold medals won by India.”
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju was invited to join in as the chief guest. However, due to prior commitments he will not be able to attend the meet. However he has conveyed his best wishes for the event.
The event will be live on Facebook and one may use any one of the links to view the programme.
www.facebook.com/bharatratnafordhyanchan
www.facebook.com/signature24productions
www.facebook.com/Mohantybabushaan