Sachin Tendulkar did not deserve Bharat Ratna: Former MP Shivanand Tewari

Life is fickle, and nothing is permanent. For nearly three decades, Sachin Tendulkar was the blemishless God of Indian cricket. He was adored and worshipped by his countrymen, and enjoyed a fan following that was never seen before in Indian cricket.

But then, all it took for India to turn against Tendulkar was just a single tweet. The ongoing farmers’ protest is a highly sensitive issue, and the normally silent Tendulkar voiced his opinion on the matter. In a tweet that looked as if he was not favoring the farmers, the ‘Master Blaster’ tweeted that India’s sovereignty should not be compromised, and the country should stay united.

Tendulkar’s tweet has taken social media by storm, and the cricketing icon has been receiving abuses and trolls from all quarters. In fact, his tweet has been retweeted around 1 Lakh times at the time of writing. Well, this is exactly what Tendulkar tweeted.

India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants.
Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation.#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 3, 2021

Sachin Tendulkar did not deserve Bharat Ratna, says Shivanand Tewari

Now, former MP of the Rajya Sabha, Shivanand Tewari has joined the criticism against Tendulkar and has stated that the cricketing legend did not deserve to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. He said that farmers lived in the villages and do not know what is being written on Twitter. He added that Tendulkar was the brand ambassador of several products and did not deserve the highest civilian award of the country. Tewari also suggested that the award should have gone to hockey wizard, Dhyan Chand.

“Farmers live in villages and do not know about Twitter and what is being written here. Once two foreigners supported the farmers, Tendulkar jumped into the debate. Tendulkar is a brand ambassador of several products and did not deserve to get Bharat Ratna. There are many deserving people like Dhyanchand who should have got it,” said Tewari in a chat with The Indian Express.

But then, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand has disagreed with Tewari and said that Tendulkar was indeed deserving of the award.  He even sensationally alleged that Tewari had turned senile and should consult a good physiatrist.

“I wonder if Sachin Tendulkar should not have got Bharat Ratna, who else deserved it? Shivanand Tewari has turned senile and does not know what he is speaking. He needs a good psychiatrist,” said Anand in response to Tewari’s criticism.

Nikhil Mandal, who is the spokesperson of JD(U), also concurred with Anand and said that Tendulkar was deserving of the Bharat Ratna for the extraordinary feats that he achieved. He concluded by saying that there is nothing wrong if someone tweeted that India is a country that is capable enough to take care of itself. He also added that what Sachin said was very ‘sane’.

“If Sachin did not deserve Bharat Ratna for his extraordinary feat, should it be given to those carrying water bottles to players in the field? What Sachin said is very sane. There is nothing wrong in saying that Indians are capable of solving their problems themselves,” said Mandal.

Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket, and in spite of retiring from international cricket in the year 2013, he continues to have a massive fan base across the country.