By Ramesh Kandula
Justice Markendey Katju, the chairman of the Press Council of India, says cricketers and film stars are not the people who should get Bharat Ratna but historic figures who are our real heroes. Justice Katju’s view comes in the wake of increasing demands for a Bharat Ratna to cricket legend Sachin Tendulker.
Reportedly, rules have been changed to accommodate sports personalities like Sachin to qualify for the prestigious award.
However, Justice Katju finds the clamour for honoring film and sports personalities with the highest civilian award repulsive since these people are ‘superficial ones’.
The Press Council chairman has his choice for the awards spelled out: Mirza Ghalib for rejecting feudalism and approving of modern civilization; Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya for launching a full-blooded attack on the caste system; and Subramania Bharati, the thorough nationalist who wrote a hundred years ago against women’s oppression.
The Justice writing an Op-Ed column in The Hindu titled, “Who should get Bharat Ratna”, himself admitted that his appeal for bestowing Bharat Ratna on Ghalib earlier was described as ‘sentimentalism gone berserk’. However, he is firm in his opinion. “It is such who should be given the Bharat Ratna, even if they are no more,” Justice Katju declares.
Lashing out at the fad to recognize ‘popular’ people who have no social relevance, Justice Katju remarked, “How many people in India have read Ghalib, Sarat Chandra and Subramania Bharati? There are demands to give the Bharat Ratna to cricketers and film stars. This is the low cultural level to which we have sunk. We ignore our real heroes, and hail superficial ones. I regret to say that the present generation of Indians has been almost entirely deculturised. All that they care for is money, film stars, cricket, and the superficial”.
While I share a large part of what Justice Katju has to say on the issue, including the names he suggested for the honour, I cannot but think in this context of people like Gurajada Appa Rao, whose contributions in inculcating modern values in every sphere of life of Telugus have had a profound impact on the society.
Forget about Bharat Ratna, such luminaries have not received their due within our own state. As Justice Katju says this is indeed a rollicking time for film stars and other entertainers to be commended, applauded and celebrated. A time when every Mohan Babu, Chiranjeevi and Brahmanandam is decorated with fake doctorates and all shades of Padmas.
Probably it is better that the old ones are left alone, rather than be consigned to the same hall of infamy.
But the question remains whether Sachin can be clubbed in the same category or whether he should not be seen as just a successful sportsperson but an achiever in a league of his own. Should sports persons or film stars and other such achievers be treated the same as those who contribute to social change at great personal cost? Otherwise, will there be a demand tomorrow for Shahrukh Khan to be awarded Bharat Ratna?
