Who is Muralikant Petkar (image:murlikantpetkar.com/)

With the release of Kabir Khan’s Chandu Champion, name of Muralikant Petkar, war hero and India’s first paralympic gold medalist is hitting headlines again. A glimpse through his life will tell why Petkar’s story need to be told.

Born on November 1, 1944 in Peth Islampur region of Sangli, Maharashtra, Muralikant Petkar developed deep interest in sports at a very early age. He was exceptionally good at athletics, wrestling and hockey. One time, boy Petkar defeated the village head’s son in wrestling and his victory brought the rage of all villagers. The incident, thus, became turning point in his life where the indignation of the villagers posed him to run away to Pune and enroll in the Boys Battalion of the Indian Army. In the regiment he exhibited remarkable performance in every sport organised and became envied figure among his peers and seniors.

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Following, he began working as a jawan in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in the Indian Army. Petkar’s skills in boxing, got him an opportunity to represent the Indian Army in Boxing at the International Services Sports Meet 1964 in Tokyo. When he got shifted to Secunderabad, he began the training to be an armourer and started his full-swing preparations for Nationals.

During 1965 India-Pakistan war, Petkar suffered many injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. It affected his memory as well. He still has a bullet lodges in his spine, a ghastly reminder of the War and sufferings it caused. Though it left Petkar with permanent disability, despite all the setbacks,  he fought back to the tragic incident with impeccable courage and determination and attained recovery within a brief span of two years.

In 1968, Muralikant Petkar participated in table tennis at the Summer Paralympics where he passed the first round but was not able to proceed in the second. Standing firm, he shifted his focus to swimming and won four medals in swimming and subsequently represented India at the international level. In 1967, Petkar became the Maharashtra State Champion in Table Tennis, Archery, Weightlifting, Javelin throw, Discus throw, and Shot-put.

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The unparallel achievement in Petkar’s career came when he won gold medal in the 50-metre freestyle swimming event in the 1972 Summer Paralympics, Germany. With his victory he has set a world record and became India’s first Paralympics Gold medalist. Besides swimming, he shown excellence in many sports, including javelin, and precision javelin throw.

In 1972, he started his career at TELCO in Pune and worked for 30 years. Even though Petkar brought remarkable accomplishment and brought honour to the country, most of the time he was denied of appreciation. “In spite of being a loyal serviceman and an athlete extraordinaire, Petkar has been subjected to injustices on both political and social level, however his contribution to the field and subsequent honour which he deserves remain indubitable,” said in his website. Finally, in 2018, Muralikant Petkar was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award.

In the movie Chandu Champion, Kartik Aaryan plays the role of Muralikant Petkar.