Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to confer ‘Bharat Ratna’, India’s highest civilian honour to SP Balasubrahmanyam, who died in Chennai on September 25.
In an emotional note, the Chief Minister said that, “SPB had left a deep impact on the global music industry over the course of a career spanning five decades. As a tribute to the legendary singer for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and art, I request you to confer the Bharat Ratna on him.”
Actor turned politician Kamal Haasan thanked YS Jagan for his initiative and said that the fans of the singer would appreciate the award. Most of the celebs and fans have been raising their voice to confer the Bharat Ratna on SPB. Already, a campaign named ‘Bharat Ratna For Balu’ is going on in social media.
The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award and it is given for the exceptional service towards the advancement of Art, Literature, and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order. The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. Initially, the award was limited to accomplishments in the arts, literature, research, and public services, but in December 2011, the government extended it to include “any area of human endeavour”.
The famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, was the first-ever Indian to win this honour. Indira Gandhi, APJ Abdul Kalam, Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi, Sachin Tendulkar, CNR Rao, MS Subbulakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar, etc., have been awarded with Bharat Ratna. In 2019, Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika has been conferred with Bharat Ratna.
Girish Kumar a die-hard fan from Bangalore, has filed a petition through Change.org demanding to confer Bharat Ratna on Balu. He is collecting signatures through this petition. He told the BBC that he was “deeply saddened” by Balu’s death and that the petition was filed with the intention that the Indian government should still give the highest honour to SP Balasubrahmanyam, who has served the world of music for more than five decades. As of Tuesday, 34,000 people had signed the petition.
Is there any discrimination in awarding Bharat Ratna to South Indians is the most sought after question among the netizens. In the recent times, the Telugu people have been demanding that the Bharat Ratna should be given to the former Indian Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao as well.