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Kolkata, July 1 (PTI) Former West Bengal governor Shyamal Sen today urged the Centre to confer late Olympian Shew Mewa Lall with Padma Shri for his contribution to football.
Addressing a function in memory of the diminutive striker''s 85th birth anniversary, the former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice, Sen, said it''s a pity that Mewa Lall was yet to get any government recognition.
"He (Mewa Lall) had given everything to football. He had earned India the first Asian Games gold medal (1951) by his solitary goal against Iran. Even former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had praised him personally.
"But he never got any recognition like Padma Shri. In fact, he had lost his baby daughter who died in Kolkata on the day of the final. It happened in the morning of the match and the family did not tell him so as to keep him focussed but what he got in return," Sen lamented.
The skipper of the gold medal triumphant side, Sailen Manna, was awarded Padma Shri in 1971.
Such was the plight that Mewa Lall, a former Eastern Railway employee, was refused treatment at BNR Hospital (a Railway Hospital) as doctors did not recognise the 1948 and 1952 Olympian.
Later after reading news reports, then state Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty intervened as he was admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital.
Mewa Lall died at the age of 82 after suffering from a prolonged illness on December 26, 2008.
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Addressing a function in memory of the diminutive striker''s 85th birth anniversary, the former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice, Sen, said it''s a pity that Mewa Lall was yet to get any government recognition.
"He (Mewa Lall) had given everything to football. He had earned India the first Asian Games gold medal (1951) by his solitary goal against Iran. Even former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had praised him personally.
"But he never got any recognition like Padma Shri. In fact, he had lost his baby daughter who died in Kolkata on the day of the final. It happened in the morning of the match and the family did not tell him so as to keep him focussed but what he got in return," Sen lamented.
The skipper of the gold medal triumphant side, Sailen Manna, was awarded Padma Shri in 1971.
Such was the plight that Mewa Lall, a former Eastern Railway employee, was refused treatment at BNR Hospital (a Railway Hospital) as doctors did not recognise the 1948 and 1952 Olympian.
Later after reading news reports, then state Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty intervened as he was admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital.
Mewa Lall died at the age of 82 after suffering from a prolonged illness on December 26, 2008.
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