Lucknow, Aug 3: Indians have been taught from time immemorial that hockey is the country's national sport. But this perception had to face a rude shock when an RTI query revealed that India has no national game.

The RTI query was filed by a class-VII student, Aishwarya Parashar who came to know this shocking fact that is sure to dampen the spirits of hockey lovers in the country. Aishwarya had used the power of RTI to gather more information on India's national bird, national anthem, national symbol, national flower and national animal.

The matter on the national game was revealed when she filed a query with the information officer at the Prime Minister's Office in May this year. Aishwarya's earlier RTI query had also grabbed headlines when she sought to know if there was any document to prove if Mahatma Gandhi was conferred the 'Father of the Nation' title.

The latest query on the national sport was replied by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, where it said that the ministry has not declared hockey as a national sport. The information was passed to the girl by the additional secretary in the Sports Ministry, Shiv Pratap Singh. All her other queries are still pending with various other ministries.

Aishwarya has been quoted as saying to media channels, "It is a bitter truth that the country has no national game." She had earlier successfully used RTI to move a garbage dump near her school and got a library built in its place.

OneIndia News