So no Bharat Ratna for Sachin?

More intriguing than Sachin Tendulkar’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is why it has generated so much controversy. Even assuming he is going to be too busy to give time to parliamentary work, there have been others who were nominated in the past who hardly showed up in Parliament — Lata Mangeshkar sticks in memory — but who did not invite such a wave of protest. Nor did Mani Shankar Aiyer’s nomination invite such a howl of criticism, though he was a member of the ruling party nominated after he lost the Lok Sabha polls.

Baba Ramdev suspects a design behind the move, and Bal Thackeray has dubbed it ‘dirty’ politics, the argument being that a beleaguered UPA has plumped for Tendulkar because it wants to bask in his reflected glory. It would be naive to believe that the Congress could    reverse the prevalent climate by nominating Sachin to the Rajya Sabha. For, the reasons for the Congress decline — and what ails it — lie elsewhere. Or that Sachin, just because he has been nominated, is about to join the Congress party and become its brand ambassador. He has clarified that he will remain a cricketer. Given the reaction that the news provoked, it seems this is what the Congress’ opponents are most worried about.  

Others have argued that Sachin cannot be nominated because there is no category like ‘sports’, under which he can be nominated — the specified categories are culture, literature, science and social work. But speaking about the rational for having nominated members in the upper house, Jawaharlal Nehru had argued in May 1953 that they represented ‘the high watermark of literature, culture or whatever it may be.’ It is not just litterateurs, scientists, artists or social workers who have been nominated over the years but also lawyers, educationists, administrators, journalists, and  even an ornithologist like Salim Ali.

The nominated category was conceived because it was felt that people from different fields who stand tall in their professions would lend value to parliamentary discourse. Though they are supposed to represent their professions, they are also required to bring to the House of Elders a voice of sanity, balance, wisdom.

This does not mean a cricketer should talk only on cricket or an actor on her craft. It means that given their experience and standing, they bring a new perspective and lend their voice to a host of issues brought before Parliament and the country.
Yet others are criticising Sachin for accepting the Rajya Sabha membership because politics has become a dirty word and he should not besmirch himself by joining the company of those whose reputation is tainted. The argument smacks of an arrogance and presupposes that all politicians are the ‘scum of the earth’ and the rest of society ‘lily white’ in its conduct.

There can be pros and cons of Sachin’s entry into the upper house. The persuasive argument against his nomination could pertain to the question of the availability of his time for Parliament. He has made it clear he is not retiring from cricket any soon, and that means a punishing schedule. Nor is he likely to stop endorsing products. This raises the other question: will his role as MP come into conflict with these endorsements at some stage, if companies whose products he endorses run into trouble with the law?  

Now that the government has nominated him to the upper house, it may not confer on him a Bharat Ratna, which the Maharashtra government and assembly had recommended, given the ground level pressure generated in the state to honour him.

In fact, a Rajya Sabha nomination may be more appropriate for Sachin than a Bharat Ratna. This is not because sportspeople have never been conferred a Bharat Ratna. The government is amending the existing provisions to include sportspeople.

Sachin, and others like him, have become the icons for young Indians today because they have achieved both excellence and success — and also because politicians have abdicated this space to them. Sachin is a maestro of cricket, but his success story has been helped by the profile, visibility, and big money cricket has attracted in recent years for a variety of well known reasons. While Sachin is a success story, his is not a story of service to the community, outside of himself, for which Bharat Ratnas were conceived — though over the years they have also got politicised. He is one of the ratnas of Bharat but not yet a Bharat Ratna in the sense we have understood the award. But he may well bring a whiff of fresh air to Parliament. And a Rajya Sabha nomination may allow him an opportunity to ‘give back’ to society that has given him so much adulation.

The writer is political and social commentator