Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, flies away

His family was killed during Partition, and Singh, who escaped to India, stumbled on running as a sport during his military training days. Now, he has flown away, leaving a nation in debt and grief.

India may well win an elusive, and prized track and field Gold at the coming Tokyo Olympics, which would be the only fitting tribute to Milkha Singh, the incomparable athlete who died of Covid-19 at the age of 91 on Friday. For a man who came to be known as the Flying Sikh, running began in his poverty-stricken school days when he ran 10km to and from school in Muzaffargarh (now Pakistan). His family was killed during Partition, and Singh, who escaped to India, stumbled on running as a sport during his military training days.

By 1958, two national records for the 200m and 400m were in the bag, and he had become India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medallist (AP)

Milkha Singh was never one to rest on his laurels. By 1958, two national records for the 200m and 400m were in the bag, and he had become India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medallist. But, Singh’s greatest performance ever was perhaps in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he missed the bronze by a heartbreaking 0.13 seconds. Otis Davis, who won that race, in a tribute in this newspaper, described Singh as a great and very fast runner. Generations of Indians, and almost every Indian sportsperson from PT Usha to Dipa Karmakar to Sachin Tendulkar, have drawn inspiration from him.

Though Partition robbed Singh of his most priceless possession, his parents and extended family, he held no bitterness against Pakistan from where he had to flee, as captured in the film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He said, “Whenever I ran, India and Pakistan both ran with me”. His duel on the track with Pakistan’s great athlete Abdul Khaliq, whom he beat in Lahore in a photo finish, led that country’s then president Ayub Khan to tell Singh, “You did not run today, you flew.” Milkha Singh has flown away, leaving a nation in debt and grief.