Table of Contents
Can a Foreign National Get the Bharat Ratna Award?
It is a big question whether the Bharat ratan is given to foreign citizen because it seems by its name that it belongs to Indian Citizens only and usually it has been seen that the award is conferred on India-born citizens only. But it is not true, out of total 53 recipients 3 are foreign national because There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens only.
Resulted Mother Teresa was became the first non-Indian recipient of Bharat Ratan in the year 1980 created as Naturalized citizen. Likewise in year 1987 and 1990 Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela became the second and third non-Indian recipient of Bharat Ratan.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was an independence activist, now is a Pakistan citizen and Nelson Mandela was the leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, he is the citizen of South Africa.
Can Bharat Ratan award be given Posthumous?
Originally there was no provision to give this award posthumous. But subsequently the statute has been modified in the January 1966 when the name of former Prime Minister of Indian Lal Bahadur Shastri was nominated for the award. Former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first recipient to be honoured posthumously in 1966. From till date there are 18 posthumous recipients of Bharat Ratan.
Whether the Bharat Ratan award is discontinued ever?
The Bharat Ratna, along with the other Personal Civil honours was suspended twice in the history of India.
First it was suspended from July 1977 to January 1980 and the reason behind the discontinuation of the National honour was the change in the National Government. From March 1977 to July 1979 Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister and after-words Choudhry Charan Singh elected as prime minister from July 1979 to January 1980. In January 1980 Shrimati Indira Gandhi resumed the office of the Prime Minister of India and re-activated all the civilian awards.
The second time it was suspended from August 1992 to December 1995. Reason behind the discontinuation was several PIL (public-interest litigations) which challenged the constitutional validity of the awards. The event of suspension and re-activate was done in the period when P. V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of Indian
Why the award for Subhas Chandra Bose was refused to accept?
In year 1992, when P. V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of Indian and the government decided to confer the award posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose. That decision was challenged by those who had refused to accept the fact of the death of Subhash Chander Bose. In this oppose some members of his extended family was also included.
Click here to attempt related MCQs/Quiz
Category wise list of important awards in India
Is it necessary to publish the name of the “Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award” in the Gazette of India?