Murlikant Petkar is a former Indian athlete and Paralympic gold medalist. He is famous for winning India’s first gold medal at the 1972 Summer Paralympics and setting a world record by completing the 50m freestyle in 37.33 seconds.
Wiki/Biography
Murlikant Petkar (also known as Murlikant Rajaram Petkar) was born on Saturday 1st November 1947 in the district of Pace Islampur in Sanli, Maharashtra (age 75; till 2022). He studied in his hometown until the fifth grade. Later, he moved to his aunt’s house in Pune. After shifting to Pune, he applied to join the Indian Army and was selected into the Bangalore Battalion.
An old photo of Murlikant Petkar
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 9″
Hair color: black
Eye Color: Black
family
Parents and siblings
His father was a freedom fighter. He has five brothers and sisters.
wife and children
He is married and has a son named Arjun Petkar.
Muricant Petka and his family
Profession
army
Europe and the Middle East
Murlikant Petkar joined the Indian Army at a very young age with the rank of Private or Craftsman in the Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) Corps. After joining the army, he began to participate in various military sports games. In 1969, he retired.
sporty
While serving in the Indian Army, he represented India in boxing at the 1964 International Inter-Services Games in Tokyo. He also won four swimming medals at the same Games. After returning from Japan, he was transferred to Secunderabad, Telangana, where he began training as an armorer and began preparing for national competitions. Petkar had to give up boxing after suffering a gunshot wound during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. However, he later moved on to other auxiliary sports such as swimming, javelin throwing and shot put. In 1967, he competed in the Maharashtra State Games and became the state champion in various events including shot put, javelin, discus, weightlifting, table tennis and archery. In 1968, he represented India in the table tennis competition of the Summer Paralympic Games and won the first round championship. In 1969, he participated in the Stoke Mandeville International Paraplegic Games in England and won his first gold medal in swimming. In 1971, he achieved the same feat again on the same project. In 1970, he competed at the 3rd Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he won three international medals, including gold in the 50m freestyle, silver in the javelin throwing event and bronze in the shot put event. Petka won the freestyle gold medal at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany, and set a world record of 37.33 seconds, the highest victory of his life.
Murlikant Petkar at the 1972 Olympic Games in Heidelberg, Germany
In 1982, he set another 50m swimming world record at the International FESPIC Games in Hong Kong.
Work
He revealed in an interview that during his treatment at INHS Aswini Hospital in Mumbai, the Tata Group visited the hospital and provided rehabilitation assistance to the injured soldiers, while Petkar asked for employment opportunities at TELCO instead of financial assistance. In 1972, he joined TELCO, Pune and worked there for nearly 30 years. Served as senior assistant in the company’s public relations department.
1965 India-Pakistan War
One day, while Petka was sleeping in the afternoon, a whistle signaled an air raid, and he walked out of the camp, thinking it was to rest. When he realized it was an attack warning, he tried to rush back to the camp, but by then the fire had started. Pakistani troops targeted his military camp from the air, causing him nine gunshot wounds and being run over by a military vehicle. In an interview, he talked about it and said:
I was 18 and I was so excited to see Kashmir. But when I went there, there was a war between India and Pakistan. I was not trained for war and I was sleeping in the bunker when the emergency siren went off. Thinking it was the coffee break alarm, I stepped out of my cover. But suddenly I saw Pakistani fighter jets firing bullets at us. ”
The tragic event left him paralyzed from the waist down for life, with a bullet still lodged in his spine.
the medal
- 1972 Summer Paralympics gold medal in Heidelberg, Germany
- Won gold in the 50m freestyle, silver in the javelin and bronze in the shot put at the 3rd Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1970
- 1969 Stoke Mandeville International Paraplegic Congress Gold Medal
- Gold Medal, Stoke Mandeville International Paraplegic Congress 1971
Murlikant Petkar with his medal
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Best Swimming Shield, awarded in 1971 by General Manekshaw, then Chief of Army Staff, Pune Prosthetic Center
- In 1972, he set a world record by completing the 50m freestyle in 37.33 seconds.
- Gaurav Padak, then Mayor of NB Limaye, Pune, in 1973
- Won the Championship Cup for five consecutive years (1969-73)
- Special Award for Outstanding Performance by Pune Youth Association, 1975
- Shiv Chhatrapati Award from the Government of Maharashtra, 1975 (this was the first award given to disabled athletes in India)
- Mr Sorat was honored by the Chairman of the All India Council of Mayors for being the National Champion for 7 consecutive years (1968-76) and celebrated in Pune on 26th January 1976
- Shri Vijay Merchant conferred Krida Pratishthan Award on April 5, 1979
- In 1981, he was awarded the Outstanding Athlete Award by the Mayor of Pune
- Won the honor of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in 2018
Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) Honors
- Padma Shri was conferred by former President Ram Nath Kovind on March 21, 2018
Murlikant Petkar Receives Padmas Award
in mass media
In 2023, the biopic ‘Chandu Champion’ based on the life of Murlikant Petkar is announced. In the film, Kartik Aryan plays Murlikant Petkar. Before him, Sushant Singh Rajput was chosen for the role in 2016. The film is directed by Kabir Khan.
Movie “Chandu Champion” poster
Facts / Trivia
- Due to his excellent boxing skills, he was called Chotu Tiger by his colleagues during his service in EME.
- Petka has had a keen interest in sports since childhood. He excelled primarily in wrestling, track and field, and field hockey.
- As a child, he was criticized by the villagers after defeating the village chief’s son in a wrestling match. Thereafter, he had to move to Pune where he learned about the conscription. Later, he joined the Bengaluru Battalion of the Indian Army and started boxing in the Service Games.
- In an interview, he revealed how he became interested in wrestling. He mentioned that on his way to school, he once passed by a wrestler’s akara (training ground). One day a wrestler approached him and offered to buy him a “thandai”, Petka’s favorite drink, if he agreed to practice wrestling. After that, he started wrestling in Akara.
- He expressed his desire to visit Kashmir in 1964 when his seniors asked him to receive the coveted award for his outstanding performance at the International Service Games. Later, they sent him to Kashmir to fight in the 1965 India-Pakistan war. In an interview, he said about it,
I hadn’t seen Kashmir at that time, so I asked them to send me to Kashmir for vacation. “
- After being injured in the war, he was sent to Delhi for treatment. While he was taken to Delhi for treatment, he wanted to be transferred to INHS Aswini Hospital (Naval Hospital) in Mumbai for further treatment.
- After being wounded in the war, Petka underwent multiple operations and was sadly reunited with his family two years later. Depressed and abandoned, he attempted suicide by taking 30 sleeping pills with alcohol in 1967 at the INHS Aswini Naval Hospital.
- In 1967, minutes before his suicide attempt, a cleaner asked him for 10 rupees to play “matka,” a popular form of street gambling. Instead of 10 rupees, he handed the cleaner a 100 rupees note. The cleaner then insists that he (Petka) should also try his luck at gambling. The next morning, Petka learned that he had won 40,000 rupees in a “matka” competition. He also attempted suicide and experienced the sensation of urinating for the first time since his injury in 1965.
- While undergoing treatment at INHS Asvini Hospital in Mumbai, the physiotherapist asked Petkar to start swimming as there was no response in his legs. He revealed in an interview that he started practicing swimming in a swimming pool near the hospital, where a naval service team was also practicing swimming for the nationals. He further revealed that there he met former cricketer Vijay Merchant who encouraged him to take up the sport at the international level. Vijay Merchant also sponsored Petkar’s ticket to Germany, where he set a world record in swimming. In an interview, he talked about it and said:
Vijay Merchant heads an NGO that supports people with disabilities, and his organization paid for my tickets. “
- In 1982, the Indian government rejected Petkar’s request for the Arjuna Award. In an interview, he spoke about this and said:
I broke world records, but I didn’t beg for an Arjuna award. Now, the government’s rule is to submit an application and have police verification and so on. I broke world records and the government knew everything about me. The government should come to me and ask for my details. Why should I go to them? “
- Petka believes that the appreciation award will motivate athletes to perform well for the country. After receiving the Padma Shri in 2018, he said:
I never thought I would get Padma. I don’t know who nominated me for this honor. But I do believe this award will inspire other para-athletes. “
- Murlikant Petkar’s life story has been included by several authors in their books, including Aparna Jain’s Boys Will Be Boys ), Medini Sharma, Courage Beyond Compare by Sanjay Sharma, Pravas Vadali Divyancha by Sharda Gaikwad, Go India’s Nandan “Sporting Transformation” by Kamath and Aparna Ravichandran, and “Sankalp Se Siddhi Tak” by Vinay Jaiswal.
Murlikant Petkar with the book Unparalleled Courage
- In 2021, the CBSE Board added his life story to the book Reading Literacy.
book cover of Reading Literacy
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education