Harbhajan Singh Supports Deaf Chess Player Malika Handa
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has come out in the support of national Deaf chess champion Malika Handa.
The national chess champion Malika Handa came out in the open and expressed her anger at the government via some hard-hitting words on her official Twitter handle. On January 2 (Sunday), the 26-year-old Malika had posted a video expressing her frustration and captioned the post, "I m very feeling Hurt 31 dec I met sports minister of Punjab @PargatSOfficial. Now He said punjab Govt can not give jobs and no cash award to (Deaf sports) because they do not have a policy for deaf sports." Handa didn't mince her words as she felt that she has wasted five years of her life due to the false claims made and questioned why there is no support for deaf sport. Now, Harbhajan Singh, who retired from international cricket on December 24, 2021, has come out in support of Malika. He tweeted saying, "Firstly why is there no policy for the hearing impaired?? Being deaf doesn’t take away talent. Secondly she should get what was promised for her achievement ..I urge sports minister punjab and India to look after this matter @PargatSOfficial @ianuragthakur"
Given someone of a stature of Bhajji has joined in, it will be interesting to see if a swift action is taken in the coming days by the senior authorities in the Punjab government to meet the needs of Malika.
Malika has had a stellar career where the youngster has clinched the national championship for as many as seven times and has also returned with six medals at the Asian and World Championships. Thus, the wayward treatment of such a star athlete remains alarming. Shiromani Akali Dal leader - Harsimrat Kaur Badal also supported Mallika. She said that the Congress Government in Punjab has failed to support a talented Deaf Chess player and the government needs to recognise her achievements.
