By Firoz.T.Totanawala
The Bangalore Metro Reporter
THE ENFORCED HONOUR!
IS SACHIN THE ONLY SPORTMAN DESERVING BHARAT RATNA?
Under pressure of vested interests, the central government has decided to award cricketer Sachin Tendulkar the coveted Bharata Ratna. As a first step, it has amended the rules to accommodate people who have contributed greatly in the field of sports. This amendment is obviously aimed at clearing the way for Sachin to get the highest civilian honour of Bharata Ratna.
Nobody disputes the fact that Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer. He has the highest number of cricketing records in the world and is on the threshold of scoring 100th test century. Of course, it will take years for any other cricketer in the world to break his records.
It is another matter that Sachin has made a fortune out of his cricket. He is the highest paid cricketer in advertisements. Last year, it is said he signed a sponsorship contract for a whopping Rs. 300 crores! Like any cricketer, Sachin too had his ups and down. He was a miserable flop as the captain. He was a failure with the bat at frequent seasons and at one point of time, it looked like his cricketing career had ended. But the lenient attitude of the BCCI helped him bounce back to form.
The central government has recognised his cricket contributions by conferring Padmasri and Padma Vibhushan awards to him. Sachin has earned in crores through cricket and advertisements and nobody can grudge about his earnings because he deserved it.
But, can his records or his cricketing fame, be the yardstick for awarding Bharat Ratna to him? Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award conferred in recognition of the great contributions by a person in the field of social service, peace and harmony in the society. Since its inception in 1954, the awards were given to people who have contributed during freedom movement, Social Reformers, Scholars, Educationists, Musicians, Actors, Directors etc. And definitely sports were not considered and there is a valid reason for it. There are various scores of sports where sports persons have made India proud by their achievements. Selecting one among them is very tough. Moreover, sports do not contribute to social, economic or cultural reforms. Sports were therefore left out from the ambit of selection to Bharata Ratna.
In fact, last year itself, there was a strong demand for awarding Bharata Ratna to Sachin Tendulkar. But sports were not in the criterion and moreover as Sachin was still playing and is still playing, the government could not select him to the highest honour. Further, the government had already honoured him with Padma awards, twice! But, the demand by the cricketing world particularly BCCI, for Bharata Ratna to Sachin became louder. One can say that there is a powerful lobby working for Bharata Ratna award for Sachin. Sharad Pawar, a powerful Minister in the central government and chairman of the International Cricket Council is also backing the proposal.
With regard to the government’s decision to award Bharata Ratna to Sachin by relaxing the norms, one can say that it is not a wise decision. In fact, the move has opened the Pandora’s Box with claims of great sportsmen of yesteryears demanding the honour. There is the great Milka Singh who deserves it in first place. Milka Singh also known as the ‘Flying Sikh’ is even today remembered and revered by the people. Then there is P. T. Usha who had become a legend. There are sportsmen who brought Olympics medals for India. Prakash Padukone, won the laurels for India in Badminton by winning world championships. More than anybody, Viswanathan Anand, the World Chess Champion deserves the award most. He has won scores of world Championships.
Then who will forget Ramanathan Krishna, Vijay Amritraj, Leander Peas, Ramesh Krishnan etc. who have made it big in the world of Tennis. And what about Abhinav Bindra, who scored the very first Olympic gold for India in shooting? In fact, Bindra is the only Indian who secured a gold medal in the history of Olympics. Does he not deserve the Bharata Ratna more than anybody, by his splendid feat?
Further, in cricket itself, there are great names who have contributed tremendously to Indian cricket. Ajit Wadekar captained the Indian team which defeated almost all cricketing teams in the world. Sunil Gavaskar, fought for the players and made cricket, a highly commercial venture for both the cricketers and the Board. How one can forget Kapil Dev. Then there is this Saurav Ganguly who holds the record for winning the highest number of tests, as captain. Dhoni, the present captain too has won the maximum tests and one-day matches. So, Sachin is not the only great cricketer. He might have the highest ‘records’ in cricket, but mere ‘records’ cannot make him the most eligible person for Bharata Ratna award.
On the contrary, Sachin has also courted controversies too. In one case, he had cut the cake resembling Indian flag and later apologised. Again, very recently, when the Indian team won the world cup, Sachin was carried on shoulder for a victory lap by Virat Kohli who had also wrapped the tri colour on his shoulder. Sachin literary was sitting on the tri colour and his shoes trampled the Indian flag. While it was visible on television screen, Indians engulfed in the euphoria of world cup victory ignored it.
To say in conclusion, it is not that Sachin does not deserve the Bharata Ratna, but there are many more sports persons who deserve the Bharata Ratna, more.
And that is all.
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