Politicians and the media did mourn the death of former Indian hockey player Balbir Singh - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 29, 2022
A photo is being shared on social media claiming that the media and politicians have not mourned the death of former Indian hockey player Balbir Singh Sr. The photo shows a shrouded dead body with a Hockey stick lying on it. This post claims that Balbir Singh, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was not given a worthy farewell by politicians and media after his death. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Politicians and the media did not mourn the death of former Indian hockey player Balbir Singh.
Fact: The former Indian hockey player Balbir Singh Sr died at the age of 95 at a hospital in Chandigarh on 25 May 2020. At that time, all the mainstream media channels have covered the news of Balbir Singh’s death. Several prominent politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed their grief over the death of Balbir Singh. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar picture of a shrouded dead body with a hockey stick on it was found in a tweet made by TV9 Network Executive Director Aditya Raj Kaul on 25 May 2020. Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted this photo informing the death of former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior. The ‘Times of India’ published the same photo with a description, “Aged 95, Balbir Singh Sr. died in Chandigarh on this day last year (May 25, 2020) after fighting a pulmonary illness for two years”.
In May 2020, several mainstream media news channels have published articles and videos reporting the news of Balbir Singh’s death. A few of those articles and videos can be seen here, here and here. The three-time Olympic gold medalist Balbir Singh was cremated with full state honours on 25 May 2020. The then Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi and other senior officials from the Punjab Government and Chandigarh administration have reportedly attended the funeral of Balbir Singh Sr.
Mourning the death of Balbir Singh Sr, several prominent Indian politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have tweeted on 25 May 2020. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the media and politicians had mourned the death of Balbir Singh.
Padma Shri Balbir Singh Sr. Ji will be remembered for his memorable sporting performances. He brought home lots of pride and laurels. Undoubtedly a brilliant hockey player, he also made a mark as a great mentor. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family and well wishers.
To sum it up, the media and politicians did mourn the death of former Indian hockey player Balbir Singh.