Awards are meant to be given to those who have
done a remarkable work in their respective professional fields, those whose
work is an inspiration for many n those who have made our nation proud by their
work. Indeed India is full of people who have done extraordinary work in their
careers n time to time this nation do acknowledge their work by giving the
awards.
Bharat Rata is the Highest Civilian Award but
unfortunately controversies never leave this award. Soon after news trickled in that former PM
Atal Behari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose might be awarded
the Bharat Ratna, the present government ran into a bout of fresh controversy.
While the Congress immediately declared that
BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Aligharh Muslim University founder Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan should also be considered for the country's highest civilian award. it
seemed that ahead of the state Assembly polls, the Congress was keen
to up the ante against the NDA government, implying that the latter is
anti-religious minorities and Dalits.
In 2013, the BJP demanded that Amartya Sen's
Bharat Ratna be withdrawn after he said that he didn't want to see Narendra
Modi as the country's Prime Minister. There was also a report on how the UPA
government scrapped their initial decision to award hockey great Dhyan Chand
the Bharat Ratna and hurriedly decided to confer it on Sachin Tendulkar
instead. Every one of us knows why the UPA government must have been desperate
to give Tendulkar the award last year. Given the dire straits it was in and how
influential a youth icon Sachin Tendulkar is, awarding the cricketer would help
the government tap into mass youth sentiment. That the move didn't yield the
desired result in the polls is a different story altogether.
To present a Award is a way to appreciate
someone, to acknowledge their work and to honour them & awards like Padma
Shri, Padma Bhushan , Padma Vibhushan & Bharat Ratna are the highest awards
of India. These awards are given on behalf of this entire nation, hence
nepotism, politicism in such awards is really unfortunate and they hurt the
sentiments of common Indians. But it seems like that this year too,
the Bharat Ratna will earn its share of controversy.
Regards
Kiran Bhardwaj
