Updated: December 2, 2020 8:54:03 am
The group now plans to write to President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday to request an appointment.
For the past two days, former Indian basketball player and Arjuna award winner Sajja Singh Cheema has reached out to other Arjuna and Padma award-winning athletes in Punjab to get them to rally in support of farmers who protest and return their awards to the president.
Cheema has been supported by more than 30 former Olympic and continental medalists, including Gurmail Singh and Surinder Singh Sodhi, members of the 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medal-winning Indian hockey team. The group now plans to write to President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday to request an appointment.
“My three brothers and I, Balkar Singh Cheema, Kuldeep Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Cheema, have represented India in basketball and we were all able to achieve national and international glory thanks to the efforts of our father Surjit Singh who owned 20 acres of land in the village of Dabulian near Kapurthala. A farmer provides food not only to the country, but also to the players and we are all with them in this fight. The laws stink of something bad for farmers, ”said Cheema, 63, who spoke to The Indian Express from a private ward at a Jalandhar hospital.
“I suffered from Covid-19 last month … I just got out of UCI and I hope to recover in time to join all the players in returning the prizes … so far, more than 30 players have joined our initiative …”
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