Have our gallantry and civilian awards become a farce???

  

There are many Padma awards(6 Padma Vibhushans, 43 Padma Bhushans and 81 Padma Shris to be precise) being conferred this year.However it seems that with each passing year the value of the Padma awards are diminishing. Last year Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan surprisingly got a Padma Shri "for her contribution to Indian Cinema". As far as I know Aishwarya Rai does not have much of a contribution to Indian Cinema (unless of course you see her movies to learn how 'not to act'). If credentials are an important criteria for giving a Padma Shri award then Nandita Das' credentials far outstrip that of Mrs. Bachchan. This year there are some Padma awards that have left me bewildered. First is the Padma Bhushan for Sant Singh Chatwal. He is being given the award for public affairs. I don't know why a person who has criminal cases registered in his name is being given the award. A wikipedia entry of Mr. Chatwal says:

Chatwal has defaulted on massive loans obtained from Indian and US banks including Lincoln Savings, First New York Bank for Business, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and State Bank of India and filed bankruptcies on false grounds. He has repeatedly used political connections for personal gain.

What is more surprising is the way the government has defended its decision to confer him the award. See the following link to read the government's response :     


http://netindian.in/news/2010/01/27/0005046/govt-defends-padma-bhushan-sant-singh-chatwal.Well perhaps Mr. Chatwal used his connection to get this award as well.

Second is the award that is being given to Saif Ali Khan. Saif, it may be remembered had criminal case registered against him for poaching of blackbucks in 1998. He was later acquitted(possibly through connection or something else). Even if that is ignored he has done nothing for Indian Cinema that he has to be conferred a Padma Shri.

Similarly Aamir Khan who is being given the Padma Bhushan has not done much to be given a Padma Shri. Sure his film Lagaan made it to the final round of Oscars. But then if that is the case Mira Nair deserves as much if not more recognition.

The scene is not very different even in the gallantry awards.Last year 11 Ashok Chakras were handed out making it the single most number of awards in a single operation since 1950. As I said before in a previous post I do not doubt the courage of the men who were killed in Mumbai, but 11 Ashok Chakras?? Since 1950 only 40 Ashok Chakras were given till 2008.

I came across this blog: http://theprudentindian.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/ashoka-chakra-2009-eleven-brave-hearts/ and like the author I also wondered,"Is it an attempt to shroud the ‘Guilt Pangs’ of the Man Mohan Singh’s government’s abject failure to contain terrorism?"  Why was there politicization of bravery of these martyrs? Terrorists attack take place in our country on an almost regular basis. Our ministers do nothing but condemn these attacks, thats all. But when men in other places are killed trying to fight off  terrorists they don't get the same recognition. Since the attack on Mumbai was on a much different scale, the government seems to have given these awards " to shroud their ‘Guilt Pangs’ for their inability to contain terrorism."

It seems thus that like everything in our country the civilian and gallantry awards have become a farce. Maybe I can get a Padma Bhushan too one day.