Bharat Ratna‏

10-Jan-2008
Dear Mr. Advani,

We have great respect for Mr. Vajpayee. But he is not yet ready for Bharat Ratna. In fact none of the Indian politicians should be given Bharat Ratna. Because they failed to address any of the following fundamental problems

1. Elimination of corruption  

2. Removal of poverty

3. Bringing down unemployment to negligible level

Mrs. Indira Gandhi was given Bharat Ratna after winning Bangladesh War. It was not right decision. Bangladesh war was a great victory, but should not be enough for Mrs. Gandhi to earn Bharat Ratna. Bharat Ratna should not be treated as 'Oscar' which is given based last year's performance. Jury must be absolutely convinced that the person they are choosing for India's highest honor is making India proud not just in one instance, but in many occasions. Mrs. Gandhi's list of failures is much bigger than her successes.

Many times we deliberately made this honor cheap. When I see the list of Bharat Ratna awardees, following people do not deserve this honor at all. They all are nice people.

Jayprakash Narayan 

Aruna Asaf Ali

Gulzari Lal Nanda

Morarji Desai - ridiculous

Rajiv Gandhi - ridiculous

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran

VV Giri

Indira Gandhi

Lal Bahadur Shastri - definitely a potential candidate if he lived.

One thing I do not understand if Maulana Kalam Azad was given Bharat Ratna posthumously, why Mahatma Gandhi was not considered for Bharat Ratna posthumously? I guess politicians dared not to play silly with father of nation.

Coming back to our original discussion, Mr. Vajpayee and our PM Dr. Singh both are honest men individually. But collectively they are highly corrupt. They give total protection to their criminal colleagues. In my view they are not the right choice.

Anyway Mr. Advani I believe Dr. Manmohan Singh will accept your request. He will take this opportunity to offer Bharat Ratna to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi as well. Who knows few years down the line you and Mr. Rahul Gandhi will be chosen for this honor jointly.