When will Punjab get its first Bharat Ratna? After C. Rajagopalachari became the first recipient of the highest Civil award in the country in 1954, 52 more eminent personalities from various fields, including politics, science and technology and sports have been named for this coveted award since then.
No one from Punjab in general and Sikh in particular figures on this select list.
Last week, the BJP-led NDA announced Bharat Ratna for five, including two former Prime Ministers, a senior BJP leader, a farm scientist, and a politician from East.
It is for the first time, five have been named for the highest civil award. In 1999, four eminent citizens were named for this award.
Interestingly, of the 14 regular Prime Ministers and two-time interim Prime Minister, nine have been chosen for Bharat Ratna.
They include first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and her son Rajiv Gandhi. Besides these three Prime Ministers from the Nehru-Gandhi families, Lal Bahadur Shastri, first non-Congress leader Morarji Desai, first BJP leader Atul Behari Vajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao and Jaat leader Charan Singh are the other Prime Minister recipients of Bharat Ratna.
Gulzari Lal Nanda, who had the rarest distinction of serving as interim Prime Minister twice, with each term of 13 days each, also figures in the list of Bharat Ratna recipients. Haryana owned Gulzari Lal Nanda.
Other than Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lal Krishan Advani, figures in the latest list of five recipients.
Dr MS Swaminathan is the latest scientist to get this award posthumously. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who also remained President of the country, was also a recipient of Bharat Ratna.
Of the regional politicians, Kapuri Das Thakur has been given this prestigious award.
Among social service activists, Mother Teresa was also felicitated with Bharat Ratna.
In Sports, Test cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who also remained a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, is the sole recipient of Bharat Ratna.
Interestingly, when the latest list was released, it included the names of both Dr MS Swaminathan and Ch Charan Singh, who are directly connected to farming community of the country. It may be a mere coincidence or a master political stroke that the announcement comes when farmers of North India are about to revive their old agitation to get their long outstanding demands, including implementation of Dr MS Swaminathan report.
The farmers had successfully conducted the history’s longest peaceful agitation a couple of years ago by putting a siege around the Union Capital New Delhi. The agitation was suspended following assurance that a committee would go through the long-standing demands of farmers. But nothing happened. Farmers are back on streets with their tractor-trailers stacked with rations to last indefinitely. The NDA government may find itself in a fix as the time is running out and the Election. Commission may be in a torrid hurry to announce the election schedule.
Once schedule is announced, the Model Code of Conduct comes into force thus prohibiting any announcement that may lure or benefit any section of society.
“The government is trying to play games with us by naming our leader and an eminent farm scientist for Bharat Ratna but without honouring what they both stood far,” remarked a senior farm leader.
The Punjabi community in general and Sikhs in particular also felt left out as none of their eminent leaders or representatives have been ever considered or given the highest civil award. They felt that Bhagat Puran Singh, scientist NS Kapany (the inventor of optic fibre), Dr Manmohan Singh (World renowned economist and third largest serving Prime Minister) and Inder Kumar Gujral (a visionary in diplomatic affairs and a Prime Minister for his action packed innings), and Balbir Singh (the first Olympian of Independent India to win three gold medals), have been equally deserving nominees for the Bharat Ratna. Punjab, however, continues to be virtually off the list of national awards and honours for a long time.
(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience of 14 years with Reuters News and 30 years with The Tribune Group, covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows.)
