75 years of public service
There is always a debate and differing opinions when it comes to discussing or suggesting names for the conferment of the country’s highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna (meaning gem of India). Or as the Wikipedia describes it as “the Republic of India’s highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service” which includes “artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as “recognition of public service of the highest order.”
And how about someone as multifaceted, talented, erudite, worldly-wise, full of wisdom who has traversed and witnessed the world history through its various phases, with a bag full of all these ingredients necessary to be considered as a Bharat Ratna nominee?
The seven-decade history of bestowment of Bharat Ratna awards is by and large unblemished barring some anomalies. The awardees have been mostly those who excelled in a particular specialized field. But, perhaps, none who had contributed in a multifarious manner and in fields as divergent as public service (read politics), literature, music, theology, diplomacy, protection of environment with particular reference to the Save The Tiger project, and many other varied fields, has ever found mention in this list of illustrious persons.
The one person who encompasses all these interests and performed with aplomb is none other than Dr Karan Singh. No one, even his worst critics, will disagree on his multi-count service to the nation. The nonagenarian is still going strong, the philosopher and thinker at his best with a sharp analytical mind, leaving no opportunity to enter into a public discourse on varied subjects of his interest to the enlightenment of others.
No such debate can escape the element of politics either to favour or reject the candidature of a nominee more so if he/she has even an iota of political shade attached to the persona. No one at that highest pedestal of achievements is a seeker of such an award and it is in the right earnest manner that the honour should be bestowed on him or her without courting any controversy. This has been the case, by and large, notwithstanding certain cases which created political dust-storm.
On this count Dr Singh also has his fair share of distractions but his contributions and achievements are much gigantic, dwarfing any criticism. His 75 years in the service of public which his friends and admirers have been currently celebrating, that saw India gaining freedom to his personal transformation from giving precedence to democracy over monarchy, is both an awe-inspiring journey and a fairly-tale combined together.
Circa 2010: As reported by Press Trust of India on March 14, 2010 the then Governor of West Bengal and a former National Security Advisor, Mr M K Narayanan had suggested that Dr Karan Singh is most deserving to receive the Bharat Ratna.
“If there is one person who can get the country’s highest award of Bharat Ratna, he is none other than Dr Karan Singh. I hope that the men in power recognise the value of someone like him and give him the highest honour, he was quoted by the PTI having said at a function.
Such multifaceted personalities cannot be tied in a time-frame to be found relevant for bestowing the honour. Given the multitude of his achievements in varied fields more so in public service, which in itself is an all-encompassing term, Dr Singh has remained relevant, right from the age of 18 when he entered public service, during all phases of Indian Republic’s journey from 1947 till date. Though involved in serious business right from the very beginning the teenage lent it some credence of being a fairy-tale.
What better occasion to bestow the Bharat Ratna award on him than the restoration of democracy in his erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir coupled with 75 years of public service? After all he was one of the key players, being the scion of the Dogra dynasty ruling the kingdom of Kashmir, who ensured that the state ushered in an era of democracy through cementing the arrangement as a follow up to the Instrument of Accession signed by his father Maharaja Hari Singh.
It was a principled stand taken by him at that time which had enraged many even within his own clan. Nonetheless, he went by his desire to become part of “making a new India” and through strengthening Jammu and Kashmir’s ties with rest of India.
Although, as publicly expressed by him in the recent times, he has been saddened by the demotion and decimation of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories, it neither diminished his enthusiasm nor blurred his vision focused on a bright future. He viewed it critically giving vent to his exasperation but without any malaise towards anyone. He is endeared himself across the political divide. And that is no mean achievement in today’s world.
There are people of eminence in various fields who have contributed their might in building the nation through their respective fields of expertise. But there are few of his ilk whose expertise could be counted in every field directly related to either public service or national interest.
In today’s world it is unimaginable, more so in the sub-continental context, to visualize someone with over seven decades of political and public life with a clean slate. In this era of scams and taint, perhaps, Dr Singh is a rare example of remaining unscathed and unblemished despite decades long service as MP and Union Minister. Leave aside his diplomatic forays that touched height with his appointment as India’s ambassador to the USA.
He is a litterateur, thinker and philosopher of the highest caliber. And his knowledge of theology, ranging from Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, and his stellar contribution in the field of conciliation or comparative study of various religions is a landmark in itself. Despite being a devout Hindu with thorough knowledge of Upanishads and other religious scriptures, he has steadfastly followed the principles of secularism, tolerance and mutual respect. That is what makes him great and look apart.
If any one can rightly claim the credit for cementing the relations of Jammu and Kashmir and its transformation from a monarchy to be part of a democratic set up, it is Dr Karan Singh. There is no denying the fact that another political stalwart of the time Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah also a played a historic role.
Although he is an institution by himself who embodies in himself a vision that has enormously benefitted the nation and his achievements speak for the persona that he is, still, at times, the nation becomes duty-bound to accord recognition and honour the contributions of such personalities.
The one who never took salary as minister/MP, nor availed of a government bungalow in Lutyens Delhi for which people are making all sorts of compromises these days, it will be a fitting way to repay by bestowing on him the highest civilian award- the Bharat Ratna.
