Who is a Ratna? Are cricketers Bharat Ratnas?

10

Tweet

One of the best informed journalists in India, Krishna Prasad from Mysore, has initiated a raging debate on Bharat Ratna award in his popular website www.churumuri.com. I sent a comment suggesting the name of Sachin Tendulkar, Rajkumar & Rajinikanth for this highest civilian honour. All hell broke lose in a few minutes. A nameless and faceless character that identifies himself / herself / itself as Anamika commented, "Sachin, Rajkumar and Rajnikant for Bharataratna! lol ! Vajapayee deserves it the best. S R Rao is my next option. I know many of you wonder as to who this S R Rao is. Find it for yourselves. @ D P Satish - I never expected you to be a moron, but now you are showing signs of it". I thanked him for his/her ' generous ' comment!

One more example of Indian hypocrisy. It is a fact that most Indians like cricket and cinema. We also admire our cricketers and cine stars more than anybody else. But we get agitated, when somebody recommends the names of these people for the high, higher and highest civilian honours! Its a classic 'holier than thou' attitude?

The top three civilian awards in the country, Padmasri, Padmabhushan & Padmavibhushan list is being made by some politicians of the ruling party and bureaucrats in the Home Ministry. Everyone is curiously looking forward to the day of announcement.

The most disappointing aspects of the last few years are that the country hasn't found a fitting person for the highest honour Bharat Ratna. The last Bharat Ratna was found in 2001. Seven years and no Ratna. It seems the government is still searching for a jewel with a magnifying glass in its hand. Doesn't a nation of more than one billion people have one eminent person who deserves to be honoured?

Is the Central Government, which already has hundred things on its hand just, playing safe to avoid controversies surrounding awards?

What are the criteria for the Bharat Ratna? Who will select and how?

- The Bharat Ratna, which literally translates to 'Jewel of India' in English, was instituted on 2 January 1954 by the then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Over the years, there have been alterations made to the laws governing the criteria for receiving the award. The design of the award medallion was changed in 1955, and the first person to receive this altered version was Sir Mokshgundam Visveswaraya, an eminent engineer of his time from Karnataka. Total 41 persons have so far got the Bharat Ratna. Barring a few controversies, the list is impressive by and large. It was conferred on the first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, to his grandson Rajeev Gandhi, industrialist JRD Tata, to legendary vocalist M S Subbulakshmi, Nelson Mandela and to Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Gafhar Khan.

It is the prerogative of the central government to chose an eminent person or eminent persons for the award. State governments can also recommend the name of eminent persons from their respective states. The Morarji Desai government had abolished all civilian honours including Bharat Ratna between 1977-80.

Should we continue with the illogical, foolish and old Indian tradition of conferring such awards only on people who are expecting the final call from almighty? Why can't we give it to young people who have made the country proud by their achievements in different fields?

If we can confer Bharat Ratna on controversial people like MG Ramachandran and the most ineffective former president V V Giri, why can't we confer it on the cricketers or film stars? After all nobody has entertained the whole nation like them. They may not be men of the state, but aren't they the Ratnas of the society?

Please tell me who is your choice? Cricketer or a fiml star, industrialist or a musician, technocrat or a politician, sportsperson or an activist?

As our Upanishads say India is a 'bahuratna garbha vasundahara'. There are many Ratnas around us. We need political will power and conviction to identify and honour them.