Controversies surrounding Bharat Ratna to Sachin Tendulkar

Bharat Ratna, the highest award for civilians in India The Jewel of India or Gem of India is a national award to be conferred upon civilians for performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavor without any distinction of race, occupation, position or sex was instituted in 1954 by the Government of India. In January 1966 the officially stipulated criteria were altered to allow the award to be bestowed posthumously and later only in December 2011 it included sportspersons. The medal bears an embossed platinum image of the Sun underneath which is the inscription ‘Bharat Ratna’ in burnished bronze written in devanagari script on a toned bronze peepul leaf having a platinum rim with the State emblem in platinum and motto in devanagri on the reverse. The recommendations are made to the President of India by the Prime Minister of India. A maximum of three persons can be awarded in any given year like Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, C. V. Raman and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan were the first awardees in 1954. The honor neither bears any title or post-nominal nor carries any monetary grant with the awardees only being allowed to make a mention of it in their CVs or cards by the Constitution of India. There is no provision mentioning that awardees can only be Indian citizens. Hence it has been awarded to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela in 1987 and 1990 respectively. Till date 43 persons have been honored with the Bharat Ratna with only the case of the award having been withdrawn for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992. Clouds shrouding awarding of Bharat Ratna to Sachin Tendulkar The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court reserved its order on a PIL challenging the granting of Bharat Ratna to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on November 25, 2013. The petition had been filed by IPS official Amitabh Thakur along with social activist Nutan Thakur. Their counsel Asok Pande argued that cricket was less of a sport and more a ‘tamasha’ and demanded that additional guidelines must be setup by the Government to select Bharat Ratna winners. Additional Solicitor General KC Kaushik offered a list of all Bharat Ratna awardees. The bench of Justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and D K Upadhyaya reserved the ruling for a later date after hearing out both the parties. Another PIL was submitted in the Madras High Court to stop the awarding of Bharat Ratna to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on the grounds of violation of the mandatory norms of the presidential notification for...

SRT and Ajit Tendulkar

Ajit Tendulkar has created a revolution by sacrificing his own career and life just to help Sachin to glitter in his cricket career, which remains as an exception in today’s world. Sachin Tendulkar in his farewell speech did not forget to show due diligence of his elder brother Ajit for his sparkling cricket career. It is indeed true that even Anjali, Sachin’s wife has also sacrificed her career even after a brilliant result in MBBS, but a brother’s sacrifice remains more touching. Ajit had not only supported Sachin at the initial stage, he had been constantly helping Sachin with his invaluable advices and enthusiasm even in Sachin’s rainy days. It is reported that Ajit did not hesitate to finger point at his loopholes even during the last test innings of Sachin. Today’s apparently selfish society should learn a...

Remembering Sachin Tendulkar

24 years ago, Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut as an Indian cricketer at Karachi on November 15, 1989 with a reputation of becoming a game changer. It was Kapil Dev’s 100th Test and in India where cricket is a staple game it was not new for a batting sensation to be awarded a Test cap. It was in his very first match that his aggression showed through when even after a cut on his chin he refused to retire hurt but continued to bat. Nearly a quarter of a century later when most of his contemporaries have either retired after attaining fame or vanished from the cricketing chronicles this diminutive human has become the God of cricket. Today this legendary cricketer will again be seen at a houseful Wankhede stadium in Mumbai playing for India while the West Indies bats in their second innings of the second test match. It was a stunned stadium that hushed with pin drop silence to register their deeply emotional state yesterday on November 15, 2013, on the second day of the ongoing Test match between India and West Indies, when Sachin got out with a classy 74 to his credit. The Wankhede had his family, friends, associates, contemporaries, celebrities and his fans to give the icon Sachin Tendulkar back a slice of the joy that he has imparted to all through his years of play. He received a spontaneous standing ovation when he raised his bat while returning to the pavilion, perhaps for the last time as an Indian Cricketer. It is indeed a great effort on his part that he has shouldered the expectations of the billions of Indian cricket fans for all these years and written his name against every possible record in the cricketing annals. His extreme humility and determined toil to remain focused on his game despite all must inspire cricketers from all generations for ages. The Master surely deserves to hang up his helmet and heave a sigh of relief for having become synonymous to the game of cricket...

Will we see Sachin bat again?

Sachin’s decision to retire from the game had created a furor for the past months ever since India won the limited overs cricket championship in 2011. Sachin however had remained totally aloof taking the decision to retire gradually over time. Much had also been made out of his delays in getting to his 100th hundred in one day internationals too. Had all the critics forgotten his preceding 99 centuries that he had so painstakingly put together? However Sachin like always had only stuck to his game and continued his daily scheduled practice to play better the game he loves more than all his fans put together. Catch Sachin Tendulkar live on TV or at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, today, the third day of the second test match as it will soon be time to pull down the curtains on his playing days. Alas! Brand Sachin might not be seen in Indian colors on the field as a cricketer any more after the end of this ongoing second test match against the West Indies but will live in our hearts and rule our minds amid the fond memories of his...

Sachin with his batting sparkles

Sachin remains not out at the close of the first day’s play in the India West Indies Second cricket test match after exhibition of some sparkles of his bat. It really does not matter how the West Indians faltered in front of the Indian bowlers and could not reach even the landmark of 200. India started their batting and lost two quick wickets at 77 runs on the board. The crowd came alive as soon as Sachin started walking in. The guard of honor by the West Indians had fueled the nostalgia of the spectators. However Sachin with his royal temperament has mesmerized the crowd. Sachin’s batting galaxy contains an exemplary flick shot and a couple of spectacular off-drives, as a symbol of his confidence and determination. Perhaps the entire India will be in front of the Television set tomorrow to gracefully remember the probable last test innings of the legendary Sachin...