Bharat Ratna -The dynasty has self awarded it

Like most prestigious awards in the world, our own 'crown jewel' of awards - the Bharat Ratna is mired with insider trading vested interests.  If you run through the list of 41 Bharat Ratna awardees in the past 60 years, you will see that the majority of politician recipients are congressmen or congress allies.  Glaring among them are the dynastic rulers - Nehru, Indira and Rajiv.  Considering that these are awards given by the President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the dynasty has self awarded it shamelessly.  Some tall national leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr Ambedkar were awarded posthumously after four and three decades of their death respectively, just in order to be politically correct, but the dynastic rulers of Nehru family enjoyed it all during their life.

Sooner or later, our lame duck Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singhji and their larger than life benefactor Madam Sonia Gandhi ji will be awarded this coveted title.  And Rahul is undoubtedly standing in queue and is readying his make-up for the ceremony.  If Congress comes back to power, you will watch my words coming true.  But the nation is surely in another mood this time.

I often think that like the Nobel Peace Prize disgracing itself by not being conferred on Mahatma Gandhi, Bharat Ratna is also being disgraced by the petty politics surrounding it.  There is also this wide disparity in the calibre of people who received Bharat Ratna.  Rajiv Gandhi is no comparison to Sardar Patel, for example.  Indira Gandhi disgraced the constitution by her dictatorial actions while Ambedkar brought it to life, upholding the democratic principles.  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who epitomized self-less politics of patriotism like Lal Bahadur Shastri was not considered for the award because he did not belong to Congress party in the end.  Not naming, I can see some congress sycophants in the list of Bharat Ratna awardees.  It has been an award that has lost its grace, dignity and high standards of recognition.  On hindsight, it is good that the Bharat Ratna was not awarded to Mahatma Gandhi as we Indians would not like to see him in the same league of his namesakes.

The table below speak volumes about how dynastic rulers of Nehru family enjoyed Bharat Ratan, all during their life.

No            Name                    Died             Awarded in        Time gap in getting Award

1. Jawahar Lal Nehru             1964               1955                      9 yrs before his death

2. Indira Gandhi                      1984               1971                     13 yrs before her death

3. Rajiv Gandhi                        1991               1991                      Same year of his death

4. Sardar Vallabbhai Patel   1950               1991                     41 yrs after his death

5. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar     1956               1990                     34 yrs after his death

V K Saxena

President

National Council for Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad