Bharat Ratna awards
By Justice Katju
It has been announced that 5 persons viz Chaudhury Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, Karpoori Thakur, LK Advani, and MS Swaminathan, are going to get the Bharat Ratna award this year.
In my opinion only MS Swaminathan deserves the award ( for his contribution to the Green Revolution in India ). None of the others do.
1. PV Narasimha Rao gave bribe to the JMM to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha.
As Union Home Minister he could have stopped the brutal killing of Sikhs in 1984, but did not do so to save his own chair
Does such a person deserve any award ?
2. LK Advani was the person who started the Ram Janma Bhumi agitation by his rath yatra, which increased communalism manifold and stoked the communal fire in India.
Does such a person deserve any award ?
3. Charan Singh switched parties probably more than any other politician in India.
He accomplished the wreckage of more ministries, since originally joining the Congress Party in 1929, than any of his senior colleagues could hope to in several reincarnations. He was the living avatar of the Aya Ram-Gaya Ram syndrome.
Since he quit the Congress Party in 1967 to form the Jana-Congress, Charan Singh floated no less than five parties, the latest being the Janata (Secular)
It is said that he represented the farmers in India, but the truth is he represented only the rich farmers ( kulaks )
Does such a person deserve any award ?
4. Karpoori Thakur, former Chief Minister of Bihar, took casteism in politics to a higher level.
Does such a person deserve any award?
The persons who in my opinion should be awarded Bharat Ratna are :
(1) Mirza Ghalib
When I first spoke of this some people said : why not to Gautam Buddha and Ashoka ? My answer is : Ghalib is modern, not ancient or medieval, and he has taken literature to the highest pinnacle. Also, posthumous awards have frequently been given, e.g. to Dr. Ambedkar and Sardar Patel.
(2) Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, for his outstanding sacrifice to help the Chinese people when they were fighting the Japanese invaders. This brought laurels to India, showing that we are not a people concerned only about ourselves, but also think of the welfare of other nations
(3) Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya, for his powerful attack against the caste system and womens’ oppression in his stories and novels
(4) Subramania Bharti, for his nationalism and powerful support for womens’ emancipation in his poetry
http://justicekatju.blogspot.com/2014/12/subramania-bharathi.html
(5) P. Sainath, for his courageous journalism, exposing the truth of the social and economic realities in India, e.g. farmers suicides.
6. Bhagat Singh
7.Surya Sen ( Masterda )
8. Ram Prasad Bismil
9. Chandrashekhar Azad
10. Ashfaqulla
