Tura: P.A. Sangma penned his last letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh recommending an Arjuna award for India’s iconic woman footballer Oinam Bembem Devi.
Sangma dashed off the letter to Singh on March 3, one day before a fatal heart attack in Delhi.
“He had recommended her (Bembem) name for the Arjuna award. I remember he told me that this Manipuri woman deserved the Arjuna award as she brought laurels to India on several
occasions,” Sangma’s close aide A. Rehman revealed at the departed leader’s residence in Tura on Sunday.
“I remember he directed me to deliver the letter to Singh’s office soon after he signed the letter on Thursday,” Rehman, who accompanied Sangma’s body from New Delhi, recalled.
Bembem had led the Indian team on several occasions and won major events. She retired from international football after the final match between India and Nepal at the 12th South Asian Games held in Shillong last month. (IANS)
