Former India forward and renowned coach Subhas Bhowmick on Saturday rued that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not send any condolence message on the death of football greats P K Banerjee and Chuni Goswami.
East Bengal brought together some of the Indian great footballers including Bhaichung Bhutia, Shyam Thapa, Arun Ghosh, Bhowmick among others in a virtual condolence meeting on Facebook.
Banerjee had died on March 20 after a prolonged illness while Goswami succumbed to cardiac arrest on April 30.
"Our country's Prime Minister did not even have one second to spare for these two greats of Indian football. He could not even post a tweet or send a message," Bhowmick lamented.
"I'm not sure whether he knows or not, our National anthems are being played outside India so many times and these two have played a big role in them."
"I feel myself fortunate to have played against both of them in 1967-68 when I was playing for Sporting Union."
"These are the two personalities with whom everybody connects in Indian football. I've a lot of memories associated with them. I really learnt a lot from him. The way he soaked up all the pressure before the 'Diamond' match (of 1997)."
"They were among the best players from Asia. It's sad that they died within just two months. It's a big loss for Indian football."