CAPTAIN MILKHA SINGH or FLYING SIKH
He was born to a Sikh family on 20 November 1929 in Govindpura Village 100km from Multan city in Punjab Province, British India. At the time of partition, his parents and siblings got killed in the massacre. Witnessing the horrific communal violence in Punjab, he escaped to Delhi. He spent some time in the Refugee camp in Purana Qila and then resettled at Shahadra New Delhi.
Mr. Singh went to Tihar jail for traveling without a ticket on the train. His sister sold her jewelry for his bail. Going through too many troubles, and sufferings he got fed up with his life and decided to become a Dacoit. But his brother Malkhan recruited him to the Indian Army. Milkha Singh joined as a sepoy in 1951.
FLYING SIKH
After got commissioned in the Indian Army, he was introduced to Athletics.
It was the army where he bolsters his running skills. He participated in the Cross country race and finished sixth among 400 competitors. In 1958, He set the record for winning two gold medals for the 200m and 400m race in the National Games of India held at Cuttack and also won gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games. The same year, He won a gold medal in the 400m (440 yards at this time) competition at the British Empire and Common Wealth Game with a time of 46.6 seconds.
After Asian Games,
In 1960, Pakistani President Ayub Khan organized Indo-Pak Meet in Lahore. Milkha Singh and Abdul Khaliq’s rivalry got more intense as people from both countries want to see the clash between both athletes. Haunted by India and Pakistan partition, Milkha Singh refused to contest in Pakistan. However, he was later convinced by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Milkha went onto beat Khaliq in Lahore, after which Pakistani Prime Minister field marshal Ayub Khan gave him the name “The Flying Sikh”.
