The value of life

I was watching the various award ceremonies that took place around the republic day. Various gallantry awards were given by the government and various other organizations. What I saw was that most of the awards went for the heroes of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It was good that these heroes were given some recognition. Even though nothing can bring back to life the gesture of appreciation was good.       

This incident made me wonder. Are these people getting all the recognition and respect just because they literally died in front of us? Every year many Jawans die protecting our borders and yet we don’t seem to give them half of the recognition that we gave to the people who died in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. These Jawans also gave their life protecting the country, why should their death have any less value. I also have heard that all the people who died during the Mumbai attacks were not given the same recognition by the government. Some got a “higher” awards where as others got a “lower” award. How can one value one death more than the other. I am not saying that jawans who die in the border don’t get any recognition but many don’t. The terms of the awards they get are also different. 

Indian after independence had decided that all titles such as Sir would not be permitted in India as it will cause division in the country. Can’t a similar approach be taken on these gallantry awards? Surely the basis on which one classifies which person should get which award depends on the perception of the adjudicators. Is that necessary when it comes for people giving their lives for their country? I can understand various film awards, as it can be considered as a marketing gimmick. Is that needed for our gallantry awards? I am strongly opposed to putting a value on different lives. Doesn’t matter if it’s a constable or the head of the police department, nor does it matter if its fighting terrorist in Mumbai or Kashmir, the bottom line is they died fighting for the county. Even if a person didn’t die fighting for the country but put himself under danger, he should be given the same recognition as the martyrs. Even though these awards wont hamper national integration or anything similar, symbolically it looks bad when patriotic deeds are being rated. 

In a related incident I heard the pugilist who went for the 2008 Olympics were crying foul when they were not given the Padma awards. Personally I do not think they have any right to feel dejected. Its not as if they have been performing for a very long time and they are not getting recognized. True, they did the country proud, but surely they can’t be compared to a Abhinav Bindra. Bindra has been performing consistently for around 10 years or even more. I surely hope that they don’t think that they are as good as or better than Bindra. They also brought in the angle for the government being biased towards cricket. Even though harbajan might have had a few problems this year, he has been performing consistently since 2000. Other sports need encouragement, but lets not just be lenient on then just because they are not cricket.