Not only politicians of various hues but former cricketers have also rooted for Tendulkar.Calls for the award have become louder after Tendulkar achieved the rare feat of a double century in the one-day format.
In the event Tendulkar does get this honour, he will be the first sportsman and the youngest person to be so felicitated.
But the question may be arise why should he awarded the highest national honour?
Tendulkar’s greatness in various formats of the game is acknowledged by his peers, seniors, spectators and statisticians alike.
One argument against conferring the award is that he is too young — keeping in mind that the award in many cases has been given posthumously.
But while a politician can be active in politics till death and an artiste can keep performing till the very end, a sportsperson’s achievements are telescoped in terms of the years he is active.
It may be safely said that Tendulkar is nearer the end of his career than the beginning. And the time is ripe for a stocktaking of his contributions to the game and the country.
The fact that the award so far has only gone to politicians, artistes (the last three recipients) or scientists/academicians seems more an argument for extending its ambit.
A Twitter comment read: “Bharat Ratna to Sachin Tendulkar? Bharat Ratna has lost its value. Invent a new award.”
If it is so felt, can there be a better opportunity to rehabilitate the award itself by giving it to someone with impeccable credentials and popularity?
The only catch is that the Bharat Ratna is “ given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order”.
So an award for Tendulkar has to be justified in terms of public service.
Think JRD Tata, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa — all past awardees.
So the only question may be arise does that qualify as “public service of the highest order”?
Yes, of course as Tendulkar has entertained and embodied the hopes of a billion-plus population for two decades & proud the country by his great achievements.
If anyone has to be given Bharat Ratna it is Sachin Tendulkar since it is he who deserves it the most.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who made his international Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 at a tender age of 16 is no stranger to awards and is a recipient of several honours.
Tendulkar is a recipient of Arjuna Award given for accomplished sportsmen(1994) and Padma Shri in 1999. He was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country’s highest sporting honour, in 1998. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997 while Time magazine named him in November 2006 as one of the Asian heroes. He has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award in 2008.
According to milestone man Sachin Tendulkar he would like to be on the list of 'Bharat Ratna' awardees but he is not thinking about the highest civilian honour as of now and would leave it on destiny.
Former cricketers Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar after Tendulkar's record breaking double hundred had said that he deserves the honour.
After his historic knock of unbeaten 200 at Gwalior, a host of current and former cricketers had said Tendulkar was greater than legendary Australian Sir Don Bradman but the Indian batting ace refused to be drawn into comparisons.
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