Early last week , I saw a news report that states that Abhinav Bindra( remember Beijing Olympics?) has been recommended for Bharat Ratna. Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour. A (maiden) Gold Medal in the Olympics is undoubtedly a very great achievement, as he had to compete with as many as 51 shooters from across many countries.
Also the criteria for conferring the award has been amended , and now everyone whose performance is of highest order in any human endeavour is eligible. If by winning gold medal once in lifetime , one becomes eligible (i doubt this) or gets recommended (note this) for a Bharat Ratna then , why is no one recommending Viswanathan Anand who has been world champion many times in chess? Even this feat is unparalleled.
There are many people who say few cricketers deserves Bharat Ratna. Just take a look at how many countries participate in cricket ? 8 or 9 or 10 you can literally count on your fingers!
What I feel is that Bharat Ratna should be given to only those personalities whose contribution to nation matters a lot. Whose contribution is towards the development of the nation. When someone scores a huge score or wins a cup what happens ? How is each individual of the nation benefitted from that? Can someone come and say only because someone scored so much in a match or someone got a gold medal our country is recognized ? I bet no one would come up to say that. I don’t mean any disrespect to the persons whose name has been mentioned or belittle their achievements , but just think about this; don’t you think Khel Ratna is sufficient for the sporting legends?
There are many other people who deserve this prestigious award. No wonder if someone recommends movie stars for Bharat Ratna in the coming years. What I want to point out here is , irrespective of their profession if someone has really contributed for the development of the nation , they surely deserve the Bharat Ratna. Don’t you think you are comparing the people with a gold medal and few thousand runs with stalwarts like Dr. Kalam, Sir M. Visvesvaraya, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan etc.. ?
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