Deepa Malik appeals for Khel Ratna, gets Khattar’s backing
NEWDELHI: Ignored for this year’s K he lR at na award, Rio Para ly mpi cs silver-medal list Dee pa Malik and Ha ryan a chief minister Manoh ar L al K hat tar have requested the sports ministry to reconsider her case, but the government is unlikely to accept their appeal.
The award selection panel has recommended javelin thrower Dev end raJhajh aria, the gold medal winner at the 2016 Rio Para ly m pi cs, and former hockey captain Sardar Singh for Khel Ratna. In a letter, dated August 16, Khattar wrote, “I am of the considered opinion that prestigious K he lR at na award should be conferred on Deepa Malik. I therefore request you to kindly consider her name for Khel Ratna.” Malik, the first Indian woman athlete to win a medal at the Para ly m pi cs,wro tea ne-mail to the sports minister Vijay Goel on August 7, making a similar appeal and also sought an appointment with him.
“I felt that there has been an oversight. Where’ s the deficiency. Do I need to win one more medal in 2020 Games at the age of 50 to be given this award,” Malik said and dismissed suggestions that she was ‘lobbying’ for the award. “There is a precedence that Khel Ratna can be given to multiple people in an Olympic year. My medal came 15 days after the K he lR at na was given on August 29, 2016 to the other winners. It’s a clear case of oversight.
“When I found my name is not there, then I wrote to the ministry, it’s an appeal. I have got the backing of my state CM. Ha ryan a is a sports conscious state. He (CM) also felt that I have been overlooked,” Malik said.
One of the selection committee members said it was not possible to include all medal winners of the Rio Paralympics.
“Mariyappan Thangavelu had also won gold in Rio but still not chosen for K he lR at na, he was given Arjuna. For Jhajharia, it was his second Para ly m pi cs gold, we could not ignore him ,” a member of the committee said on condition of anonymity.
The sports ministry is yet to approve the list of a war de es but is unlikely to make any change.
“We want to stick to what the panel has recommended. We will make public the names of the award winners very soon ,” said a sports ministry official.