Sir Sachin Tendulkar? Sorry, your Majesty!

Imagine this hypothetical retro-scenario. The British Government decides to give Knighthood to Mahatma Gandhi. The Government of India ponders over the offer. Do you think either Gandhi or the Indian government would accept the offer? You bet they won’t.

Just when we have celebrated our 58^th Republic Day and are into our 60^th year of Independence from the British we hear of this great cricketer who is a symbol of our domination in the game of our erstwhile masters getting readied to receive the Dubbing from the Queen of England.

I don’t see anything worth becoming happy for in this. On the contrary an Indian getting dubbed by the queen acknowledges the strength and resolve of the very family of monarchs which was instrumental into bringing us into submission and reducing us into paupers in the end.

True we have had many Indians in the past who were dubbed and were proud to be called Sirs, but then that was before the Independence if I am not wrong, with the exception of men like Salman Rushdie and may be even Naipaul both of whom are non-resident here.

The practice of dubbing men and women from the Commonwealth countries is nothing but a ploy to sustain the symbolic reverence the Throne once enjoyed throughout the Raj, and anyone who gets dubbed only helps in that aim, albeit he gets to enjoy a shady sort of lime light with a cost.

The moment a person is dubbed I think he or she will necessarily become conscious of the irony of receiving the recognition whenever he wants or has to speak against the Raj or even colonialism per se, because Knighthood is nothing but silencing of criticism.

Sachin Tendulkar, can wait until the announcement and then turn down the proposal in deference to the memories of all those who laid down their lives for our Independence. This will bring him more glory and praise than any Knighthood ever will.

Not only that, it will even serve as a boost to everything that one wishes to do to keep alive the memories of that Struggle as the nation becomes too involved in the hurly burly of Globalization and our youth get bombarded by Tsunamis of the Internet Age from East, West, South and North.

A Tendulkar turning down the Knighthood will be a greater publicity to the cause of patriotism than any rampaging hate-filled mob in the streets of Gujarat can ever aspire to.

I pity the reporter lady who asked the British PM Gordon Brown during a press conference during his visit here about whether he was contemplating recommending Knighthood to Tendulkar. What an infamous role she played in this episode of inadvertent Raj-mongering some of our compatriots are indulging in!

Now that the question has arisen I think it is an opportune time for the Indian government to pass a law to say that it will not allow any of its citizens to receive Knighthood from any British Monarch in the future, and the same must be let known to the British government so they do not dangle it before Indians again.

Jai Hind!

Khwaja massoud