Bharat Ratna for Tendulkar?
As Sachin Tendulkar stands on the threshold of a century of international centuries, Rohit Mahajan, writing in Outlook India , presents people’s arguments for and against bestowing the batting maestro with India’s highest civilian award – which,
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
As Sachin Tendulkar stands on the threshold of a century of international centuries, Rohit Mahajan, writing in Outlook India, presents people’s arguments for and against bestowing the batting maestro with India’s highest civilian award – which, as a sportsman, Tendulkar is not eligible for.
it’s an irony that the man who stands for every desirable value—perseverance, commitment to one’s job, grace under pressure, humility despite being lionised—isn’t eligible for the highest civilian award of the land, the Bharat Ratna … the guidelines state that the Bharat Ratna can be given only “for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order”. Sport is excluded. And therefore, Tendulkar too.
Social theorist Ashis Nandy cites three reasons why the award should not be bestowed on Tendulkar or his ilk: “First, it will only endorse the capacity of the Indian state, the politicians and the bureaucrats, to judge sportspersons when they have already shown that they cannot judge even public service, arts, humanities and science. Second, it will further politicise Indian sports and turn the sportspersons towards greater sycophancy and kowtowing. And third, it will legitimise state awards in a society that has already used the awards to hierarchise scholars, writers, journalists, artists and performers.”
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo