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Bharat Ratna & TendulkarA Question of Answers

Long years ago, late V.K.Krishna Menon, had famously observed in writing on one of his ministry files, “When everybody thinks alike, nobody really thinks”. He was commenting on some bureaucratic bungling by his secretaries.  This statement keeps coming back over and over again, every time there is an occasion to think differently unlike mob psychology.

‘The Hindu’, an English daily of South India, perhaps read by many all over India and abroad, including Pakistan, prided itself on the front page, everyday, by claiming in capital letters ‘INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1878’.

That this so called ‘national newspaper’ has an agenda, was never in doubt. Because, their entire approach to news publishing, its placements and comments, highlighting some and making some look very innocuous, has never been even handed. It is true, that there are others too in the media, who too are similarly agenda driven and suffer from this malaise.

Of course despite this, there is a readership who buys it for the reading material it provides. May be, the financial muscle it has, probably has a role in getting writers to write for it. Since there are any number of intellectuals anywhere in the world who do lack the evenhanded vision to see things in proper perspective, like Indian Express had observed in one of its editorials some years ago, “One of the more dangerous paradoxes of public discourse in a democratic society is that some “liberals” are often the most intolerant, some “intellectuals” are often the best practitioners of smear campaigns and some media often are willing carriers of such “liberal intellectual concerns”.

So, when Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket icon, was awarded the nation’s highest civilian decoration, it was not up-front, in its treatment of the news. It waited for the vox populi, the letters to editor, where there was an outpouring of congratulatory messages. Right enough it had a very sedate commentary in its editorials which concealed its double standard. 

Coming to the latest national award to Tendulkar, although, it was slow to come, the response is certainly mixed. Unfortunately for Tendulkar, even the political class is sharply divided with MHA giving a statement that “Home Ministry opposed Maken on award to Tendulkar”, so informs a report in The Hindu on Nov 19.

Some have complained to the Election Commission, accusing the govt. of violating election code of conduct. An advocate, Sudhir Kumar Ojha even questioned it in a court in Bihar. On the first day itself, there was this twitter “If UPA/Congress think, that Bharat Ratna to a cricket legend can shore up its sagging vote bank, they are sadly mistaken”.

Thus the claim that nation celebrates the coronation of Tendulkar is wrong. Besides, the popular feelings need not be a measure of considered response to an act, as awarding the highest civilian award to a mere cricketer.

For the fickleness of vox populi there are any number of instances. Rajdeep Sardesai & Company of CNN/IBN had undertaken a task, an year ago to assess “Who is the greatest Indian after Mahatma”. They had, as per their wisdom selected 100 such ‘greats’ and selected another ‘eminent’ thinkers’ jury to prune the list to 50 and then to 10. This jury of ‘wise men’ put these 10 names on the channel’s website for this ‘great Indian public’ to show their preferences and vote according to their own perception of ‘what constitutes greatness, after Mahatma’.

And come to think of it, among the greatest ten, they put Lata Mangeshkar with 20 points at the bottom, graduating further was Indira Gandhi with 49 votes, Nehru with 57 votes, JRD Tata with 102 votes, Mother Theresa with 168 votes, and believe it or not Tendulkar was voted 309 to get the 5th place among the top 10 of greatest Indians. Doesn’t this represent the intellectual impoverishment of our ‘great Indian public’ and of course our elite? As a matter of interest, all the five mentioned are Bharat Ratna’s for the service and sacrifice they did for the country and its countrymen. What has Sachin Tendulkar did in comparison to those five, to truly deserve this recognition?

The sad commentary is, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the cleanest politician India ever had in all its 67 years, so also a Bharat Ratna, was not even included in the 100. And the jury didn’t include even Jayaprakash Narayan in the final 10. So where are we heading as a nation?!

Bharat Ratna means Jewel of India. Instituted in Jan 1954, this is the highest civilian award given to an individual who has rendered service to the nation, of a highest order, in recognition of his/her services.

Thus it is very clear, that it is given only to an exclusive person or a group of persons over a period.

From the information available in the public domain, there were 41 Bharat Ratna’s, who were recipients of this national honour. 2014 would mark the completion of 60 years since its institution in 1954. This means there hasn’t been one every year, which also means, no Bharat Ratna was given in some of the years. Usually, it was always one person during one calendar year who was nominated and this year there were 2 of them proposed and announced. The statute covering the award informs the kind of services which include - arts, literature, science & technology and public service. Although, awards, all over the world, from Nobel to any other, thousands of awards given by organizations anywhere in the world, do attract debate. These debates have always been about the appropriateness, correctness, and the passing over of some who deserved better etc. So also the Bharat Ratna award, would have attracted debate, if not criticism for the selection etc. But, since it is given to some truly tall personalities debates were few and far between and life would go on as usual. But, it became a topic of discussion in the recent past after a section of Indians, especially from Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar, proposed Sachin Tendulkar for the coveted honour. As all those who are in the know of things realize that Pawar is a kind of an uncrowned king in the politics of the state. He got everything that he desired, by means right or wrong, except that of Prime Ministership of India. He was BCCI president, was ICC president and currently forced himself into Mumbai Cricket Association as its president, besides being a senior Union Cabinet Minister.

Now going back to the statute, sports was not an area considered for awarding Bharat Ratna. So under sports ministry’s pressure, the statute was amended. Suddenly there was rush of names of great sports personalities of the past being put forward by different sections, from Dhyanchand in Hockey, P.T. Usha in Athletics, Vishwanathan Anand in Chess etc.

Sportspersons are generally awarded Arjuna awards, and Khel Ratna’s are very rarely given. Some of them do end up with some Padma awards depending on different considerations and yardsticks. It is true that many achievers, whose services call for national honours and public recognition, have remained unseen, unheard and therefore unrecognized in the public domain for varieties of reasons. Lack of ‘God Father’ in a culture of ‘Maai-baap’ scenario besides downright bias, have been the causes of such neglect.

“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste its fragrance in the desert air” or “In a poultry show peacock did not get an award”, are some of the thoughts that cross our mind. These are universal truths and not peculiar to India alone. They are facts of life, whether we like it or not.

In such scenario, talk about giving or awarding Bharat Ratna to Tendulkar, had understandably aroused extreme reactions. Before we go any further, it is important to know what is Sachin Tendulkar.

Without any shadow of doubt, he was the presiding deity of Indian cricket, a dream of every young cricketer. Where cricket is a passion, he is a legend not many can match, anywhere in the world. He has, over a period of 24 years, hit every known swinger of the cherry into submission with cool contempt and disdain. Shane Warne, the Australian spin magician had famously exclaimed “He gave nightmares to me”. Rawalpindi Xpress, Shoib Akhtar, was made to derail over and over again by the sheer strength of Tendulkar’s bat. Thus when he completed century of centuries, the entire media called him ‘the uncrowned king of gentleman’s game’, the white man’s legacy. Thus his greatness with the willow is indisputable. There never was one like him nor shall there ever be, another like him, who can repeat his near miracle performance. Now that he has completed his 200th test, it is a benchmark too difficult to reach or over take. The nearest to him is Shivnarain Chandrapaul of West Indies, who has completed 150th test, that is full 50 tests shorter.

But friends, are these long innings and a hundred of hundreds good enough for the nation’s highest civilian award? To be part of the nation’s history, for the information of posterity, as Bharat Ratna, just being a cricket legend is a qualification enough?

These are very loaded questions. Being a public figure and in the thick of media glare for all the 24 years that he strode the cricket pitch like a colossus, it is only natural that he will be under an equally glaring public scrutiny. Thus, the first to fire the salvo was PCI Chairman, Justice Markandeya Katju. Sometime in July 2012, while presiding over a cultural function he had categorically stated “Don’t give Bharat Ratna to Tendulkar”. Of course, he didn’t give any reason for denying this national honour to Tendulkar. However this time round, Justice Katju strangely did not show his concern, neither positive nor negative to the latest announcement. He is known for his penchant for unsolicited ‘wise’ cracks.

World will never know why Sonia Gandhi never became the Prime Minister of India. But for public consumption, she renounced it, and ‘earned’ a tag of sacrifice. Similarly Tendulkar announced rather abruptly on 10th Oct 2013, that he will retire after his 200th test, when he never had any plan to call it quits. So what’s that suddenly hastened the decision. Grapewine has it that BCCI pressured him, without the public knowledge to quit. Hence quickly arranged this 2nd class West Indies team to come to India and play two tests so that Tendulkar completes his 'glorious' 200th test. Rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

It is true, whether Justice Katju or all those who do not approve of this highest national honour to Tendulkar, like it or not, he will get it anyway, since the UPA government in its haste announced the award to him. However there appears to be enough room to question the rationale of this action. Hence a kind of Balance Sheet may have to be drawn, at least as a measure of participative debate, to set the record straight.

Writing on “The God of a hundred things” in the Hindu, Nissim Mannathukkaren says, “While there were glowing tributes to Tendulkar reaching the century milestone, there was a deathly silence about the inexplicably slow innings that brought the hundred-100 off 138 balls-his second slowest one-day century, that too against Bangladesh, which eventually played a part in India’s defeat and eventual exit from the tournament. The milestone, which had become a millstone around the neck could be achieved only by sacrificing the interest of the team, that too after an year’s mortally agonising struggle”, he added, “For once, Tendulkar’s oft repeated ‘serving the country’ line clearly did not hold good”.

Naturally, the question arises ‘Was he playing for India or was he playing for his records?’ At different points of time this question did make its rounds. Thus there is, indeed, a public perception both privately whispered as well as expressed through the media, that often, the time Tendulkar took at the crease while reaching his hundreds were inordinately long. There is no denying that all players do look forward to creating records of one kind or the other and that is very human. But playing for the country and playing for the records is not the same thing. Here, it is very pertinent to quote Imran Khan , a former Pakistani cricket captain, who wrote “Records must be broken within the team winning. You should not be playing to break records. Records should be part of the win”. He was generally commenting on why Tendulkar is not retiring. At that time Tendulkar was still chasing the elusive hundredth hundred, and India had lost eight matches in a row, to both England and Australia, with Tendulkar playing in all of them. 

Then you have those umpteen sponsorships, which made him the richest cricketer in the world, which reportedly, unlikely to end even after his retirement. Some of these sponsors were marketing unhealthy drinks and products informs British Medical Journal, only to make some more crores of money for the cricket icon.

There are other human frailties which need to be recounted to refresh public memory about incidents which show this demigod as just another human being looking for personal benefits.

Sometime in 2003, one fine morning he gets a ‘gift’ from FIAT-Italy, a Ferrari  Sports Coupe, a glitzy mean machine, which then was costing around Rs:75 lakhs. This ‘gift’, as per norms attracted customs and other import duties of about Rs: 1.2 crores. It is another matter that in Mumbai in normal hours, driving this sports car could be difficult.

He reportedly called Pramod Mahajan then a Union Minister and a political heavy weight from Mumbai for help. An obliging Finance Minister, Jaswanth Singh, acted immediately on Mahajan’s request. Ostensibly in its highest tradition, the Finance Ministry, in “Public interest” decides to waive the duty of nearly Rs: 1.2 crore, to the ‘richest poor man’ of Indian sports.

Now a person worth hundreds of crores of rupees, in 2003, requesting the government for a measly sum of one crore and twenty lakhs which in all probability is much less than 1% of his net worth, asking for a waiver on a legitimate government due-which really is the country’s money, is simply unthinkable. “Sachin Tendulkar may be a good cricketer, but he does not seem to be a good citizen” said Indian Express, commenting on this duty waiver episode. Or else, how can anybody explain this request from a person who received all the adulation and the resultant wealth from the nation? Would you think, he would still deserve to be a Bharat Ratna?

Another reported incident was involving him in registering his vehicle in New Mumbai, while he is living in main-land Mumbai. The road tax and other government dues are supposedly less in New Mumbai. It was, indeed, very shocking if this was true as reported in the media from Mumbai, since the amount involved could be only in some thousands! Mahavir Pendhari, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation had confirmed that Sachin Tendulkar, Shankar Mahadevan and Anil Ambani were some of the big names in the list of defaulters who were served with notices for cess theft. And do you know what! These biggies gave addresses of some slums, the report informed. 

Then, there is, his attitude towards quitting the Indian team. He had so much of it for over 20 years-name, fame and fortune. No other Indian cricketer was celebrated as Tendulkar. His earnings from advertisements, sponsorships and other commercial appearances are legendary. The demand for his retirement became shriller after the England and Australia white-wash of India. It must have bothered him greatly that others are worried about his retirement from Indian cricket. 

Hence, as soon as he completed his 100th hundred, he combatively declared, “I will decide when I need to retire.” ‘Isn’t it dangerous for the game to put an individual above it?’ asked somebody in the media. Tendulkar’s argument was “When you are at the top, you should keep serving the country instead of retiring”. But who said you are at the top? You took more than a year to get to that elusive 100th hundred that too against Bangladesh. There are any number of instances when you have failed with the bat in recent times! You are getting old, a truth you cannot negate. You didn’t play in IPL, you gave up your captaincy of Mumbai Indians to Harbhajan Singh. You opted out of India team to Sri Lanka. Yes indeed, because you opted out, a young and very talented Ajinkya Rahane got into the Indian team. Precisely for this reason you should have opted out of Indian team for good. Just like entrenched politicians who need to give up their seats in Legislative Assemblies, Councils and Parliament, think they too ‘serve the country’ while denying others to ‘serve the country’. In truth those who hang on, only serve themselves.

Talking about being on top, Rahul Dravid, while hanging his boot had reportedly observed “May be sometime these things are better judged from outside. As a player you will never admit to weakness, to a slowing down of skills. You are not trained to admit these things”. This is in sharp contrast to Tendulkar’s attitude.

The recent nomination of Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha too has evoked sharp responses. Many of his friends in Mumbai cricket felt, he would not accept it. But he surprised all. Bal Thackeray had reportedly termed it as a “joke”. The Supreme Court wanted to know under what category Tendulkar has been nominated, when the nomination was challenged as unconstitutional. After all, he is not even Xth  pass, according to reports. What contribution can he make to the informed debate taking place in legislative bodies like Rajya Sabha? Sachin Tendulkar is a public figure. He will therefore be under continuous public scrutiny.

Another aspect that could show Tendulkar as commercially oriented was his interest in up-market eating joints in Colaba in South Mumbai, Mulund in North Mumbai, so also in Bangalore with abundant up-market connoisseurs of good things of life. And if you go back to the entire list of Bharat Ratna recipients, only one was from the Industry & Commerce. Rest were all from artistic, literary and scientific fields besides public service. The honourable exception was JRD Tata. Can we compare Sachin Tendulkar to JRD Tata? That is like comparing Sun to 100 watt bulb. The Maharashtra government and those in the central government, for whom Sachin Tendulkar’s political nomination, duty waiver and Bharat Ratna could only be a Vote Bank exercise, need to explain a lot. Reportedly Maharashtra government want to include him in school text books, when there are so many from Maharashtra who are socio/educational icons who contributed immensely to larger social good, whom posterity should remember with gratitude and respect. This indeed is a tragedy, that powers that be in Mumbai, has lost its sense of proportion.

Democracy, we are told, is the government of the people, by the people and for the people, but the Indian experiment has proved that this is “the government of some people, by some people and for some people”. That is a sad reality.

J.SHRIYAN