Everyone has their own Bharat Ratna

Dr Satywan Saurabh *

What should be the selection method for the Bharat Ratna Award, what should be the decision system, and who should be involved in it? This is not being discussed right now. Celebrities who have received Bharat Ratna till now. We do not question his reputation. But there is a question that why those darlings of Mother India are left out every time, whom the people of the country consider as Bharat Ratna from their heart. In our country, there is a history of distributing respect like charity to the disgraced and scamsters.

In such a situation, the question is whether there are temptations and lobbying in this too. Why shouldn't 'Bharat Ratna' be given to the immortal martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev who sacrificed everything for the country's freedom and were hanged laughing? Have honors like Bharat Ratna also become official now?

When one party is in power, it honors its people and when another party comes, it chooses its people for this honor. Whichever government it is, it awards its own Bharat Ratna according to its profit and loss.

There is a need to frame a law in the Parliament to set guidelines regarding this award in which apart from the decision of only government employees, officials of opposition parties and non-government institutions should be included. Only then will the prestige of this highest honor remain at its peak.

Should the names of Indian personalities who have achieved such status in their lives before the birth of 'Bharat Ratna' be kept out of this honor? You will ask why this question is being asked. These questions are being asked because some such mistakes have happened in the case of Bharat Ratna, after which this question becomes alive with every announcement of 'Bharat Ratna'.

A mountain of difficulties is created in giving martyr status to those who sacrificed their lives for the country and when a top leader of one's government gets Bharat Ratna, thousands of questions automatically arise.

India of the 21st century is an awakened India, every citizen here has now started wanting the heroes of the society should be given priority on the national platform, but whenever they start feeling that they are being marginalized or discriminated against, then Such issues arise and come under the ambit of controversy. Bharat Ratna is considered the highest honor in the country.

To do something for the country in your area which has brought about a change. He is given the country's highest civilian honor. This honor is given to someone who has given exceptional or supreme service in his field. This honor is given to any ideological, scientist, industrialist, writer, and social worker in the field of politics, art, literature, and science.

In such a situation, there is no justification for leaving out the names of any of the 20th-century leaders like Khudi Ram Bose to Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad. Similarly, even in the 19th century, how could names like Rani Lakshmi Bai, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy be left out? Then this sequence will not stop. There will be no end to going into the past.

Then, how will these questions end? The practice of awarding Bharat Ratna has been straightforward; The Prime Minister recommends the names to the President of India, who then accepts such nominations. But there is no mention of this process in the Official Gazette of India notification of January 2, 1954, which established the Bharat Ratna.

An additional notification issued on January 15, 1955, to allow the award to be conferred posthumously, also did not mention its procedural aspect. Therefore, the process whereby the Prime Minister or the Cabinet nominates names to the President for conferment of Bharat Ratna is a convention and not the law of the land.

Criticism as well as silence on this issue is seen at many levels, but what should be the selection method, what should be the decision system? Which people should be involved in this? This is not being discussed right now. The present government has been seen destroying many old systems, so it must develop a system so that it gets recognized by more and more people and this top honor remains deprived of criticism.

Celebrities who have received Bharat Ratna till now. We do not question his reputation. But there is a question why those darlings of Mother India are left out every time, whom the people of the country consider as Bharat Ratna from their heart?

In our country, there is a history of distributing respect like charity to the disgraced and scamsters. In such a situation, the question is whether there are temptations and lobbying in this also. Why shouldn't 'Bharat Ratna' be given to the immortal martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev who sacrificed everything for the country's freedom and were hanged laughing?

Have honors like Bharat Ratna also become official now? When one party is in power, it honors its people and when another party comes, it chooses its people for this honor. India's highest civilian award has been controversial for decades, be it due to timing, bias, or at times political parties trying to cash in on the award to suit their vote bank, when the award is given for national service .

These services include art, literature, science, public service, and sports. Sports were first added to the Bharat Ratna sports category by changing the rules for 'any' player only. And from here a new controversy and protest also started.

Was there no inspirational personality or player in sports before? There is no doubt about the ability of the player who received this Bharat Ratna, but the magician of sports who was ignored in comparison to him was very sad. After all, why have Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, and hockey magician Dhyan Chand are not given Bharat Ratna till date?

Opportunistic politics has created this situation. This opportunism shook the very foundation of 'Bharat Ratna'. If we want to advance the prestige of Bharat Ratna then we will have to think in this direction. Otherwise, questions will continue to arise as to why sons like Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose, and Mahatma Gandhi stayed away from 'Bharat Ratna'.

We should make it clear that no honor is big in comparison to what these sons have achieved in their lives. These sons became great first, 'Bharat Ratna' was born later. Bharat Ratna should be given only for such service works so that lakhs of people at any level can benefit and get inspiration.

There should be some legal process to decide who should be given this highest civilian honor of the country so that this honor remains a respectable place. Because the aspirations of all sections of the country are linked to this this is not possible. Whichever government it is, it awards its own Bharat Ratna according to its profit and loss.

There is a need to frame a law in the Parliament to set guidelines regarding this award in which apart from the decision of only government employees, officials of opposition parties and non-government institutions should be included. Only then will the prestige of this highest honor remain at its peak.