When hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr donated three of his Olympic medals for China War fund
So great was his love for India that he did not think twice about donating his medals to the China War Fund in October 1962 when the country went to war with China
Legendary hockey player and triple Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Senior, who died on May 25, 2020, was a true nationalist. So great was his love for India that he did not think twice when the country went to war with China and donated three of his Olympic gold medals to the China War fund in October 1962.
“The country’s troubled time was bigger than my Olympic medals. That’s why I gave it to the national defence fund,” Singh had said during one of his interviews.
When the hockey legend was battling for his life at the Post Graduate Institute of Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, two years back, an old photograph sent to his family by a retired Army officer revived some fond memories.
It was from October 1962, when India was at war with China, reflecting the Olympic champion’s selfless and priceless contribution towards the war fund.
Sharing Balbir Singh’s unwavering patriotism, Col BN Bali (retired), recalled witnessing a heart touching moment while he was posted at the office of then Punjab chief minister (CM) Partap Singh Kairon.
“I was deputed in the CM’s office in October 1962 when Balbir Singh Sr came to meet him. When I questioned him why he needed to see the CM, he specified no reason. I thought that like others he must had also come to get some of his work done. But when he met Partap Singh Kairon, he offered three of his Olympic gold medals (1948, 52, 56) for the China War Fund. This left everyone in the office, including the CM surprised, as nobody had come forward with such a gracious donation before. However, Kairon refused to accept the medals, saying it was the country’s pride. But Balbir Singh said the medals were the best he could offer, and on his insistence, the CM accepted them,” recalled Bali.
“However, Kairon did not send the medals to the PM’s relief fund, and told the staff to keep it in the office safe. After a couple of months, the CM returned the medals to Balbir Singh and told him that these are the country’s pride and can’t be exchanged for money.”
It was in 2017, when he read in the newspaper that Panjab University created a chair in the name of the hockey legend, Col Bali called the university office to get his contact number. “Eventually, I was able to get in touch with him and his daughter. Later, while surfing my old documents I came across the photograph of 1962 Balbir Singh handing over the medals to Kairon, so I gave the photograph to his family and told them about Balbir ji’s patriotism.”
During the 2012 London Olympics, the hosts invited the living legends from the 1948 London Games and had an exhibition of their Olympics artifacts. During that time the three Olympic gold medals were insured for UK pound 300,000 ( ₹2.76 cr). “For my father these Olympic medals are priceless, he always tells us that there is no pride bigger than the country’s honour. So, we never thought about its value in terms of money,” his daughter Sushbir Bhomia had said.
Balbir Singh was part of the hockey team that won the Independent India’s first Olympic gold in 1948.
A British colony till a year ago, India defeated Britain on their home turf and saw the tricolour of the newly independent nation being hoisted, in a country which ruled them for two centuries.
“Though it happened 70 years ago, memories of the London Games are as fresh as it happened yesterday,” Balbir Singh had said in an interview in 2018. “As a child I used to ask my father (Dalip Singh Dosanjh), who was a freedom fighter, what independence meant and what we would get out of it. He would reply that independence would give us our own identity, flag and pride forever. That day when our flag was hoisted in front of thousands of Britons at the Wembley Stadium, I realised what independence means. It was the proudest moment for me and for all Indians back home. When the national anthem was played and the flag was going up, I felt that I was flying. I am short of words to describe that glorious moment.”