A piece of information is doing rounds on the internet. There is a claim going on for a long time that Nehru awarded “Bharat Ratna” to himself Sharing a picture of the first PM of independent India Jawaharlal Nehru, a Twitter user wrote, “Jawaharlal Nehru was so humble, he just gave Bharat Ratna to himself in the year 1955 while in office. #Nehru “
Similarly, many other users have shared the viral claim.
Fact Check
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of India. It was instituted in 1954 and can be awarded to any eligible person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. This is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavor.
Jawaharlal Nehru was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1955. According to an article in edtimes.in, “when Pt. Nehru came back from his 16 days long visit to the Soviet Union, he landed in Delhi, and Dr. Prasad went to meet him at the airport. Many people appeared at the airport to see him, to celebrate his arrival and listen to his speech.”
President Rajendra Prasad held a feast in the Rashtrapati Bhawan after his arrival. Amongst all the guests, Prasad referred to Nehru as “a great architect of peace in our time”. He further declared the news of awarding Bharat Ratna, the prestigious award, to Nehru.
In the feast, he said, “Jawahar is literally a Bharat Ratna. Why not formally make him one? He had laid the foundation of peace and you will see the visit will prove of historic significance. He is proud of Nehru that through his efforts India is now standing strong internationally.”
Furthermore, this is not the first time this claim is going viral. The wire has published an article on refuting such claim in 2018. In the article, it was referred that, “the President himself confessed that he had acted unconstitutionally as he had decided to confer the honour “without any recommendation or advice from my Prime Minister” or the Cabinet”, the newspaper reported.”
Conclusion
Therefore, from this DFRAC Fact Check, it is clear that, the viral claim that Nehru awarded “Bharat Ratna” to himself is misleading.
