Jannayak Karpoori Thakur’s Bharat Ratna Award: A Significant Step towards Dalit Advancement

By Global Governance News Last updated Jan 25, 2024

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 25th Jan. The Central Government has made the decision to honor Karpoori Thakur, a prominent figure in social justice politics and a former Chief Minister of Bihar, with the prestigious Bharat Ratna award posthumously. Thakur fought for India’s freedom and served two terms as Bihar’s Chief Minister. On the occasion of Thakur’s centennial birth anniversary, the government has announced that he will be bestowed with the highest civilian award in India. The JDU party has expressed its appreciation for this decision and has thanked the Modi government at the national level. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to social media to share his thoughts on Karpoori Thakur on this special occasion.

According to Modi’s writings, he was a remarkable public leader and a symbol of social justice. Karpoori Thakur’s son and JDU MP Ramnath Thakur have also been contacted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who extended an invitation for him and his family to come see him in New Delhi. On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed happiness. “I am happy that the Government of Bharat has decided to honor Jannayak Karpoori Thakur, a symbol of social justice, with Bharat Ratna and that too during the centennial celebration of his birth,” he posted on social media. He has irrevocably altered the sociopolitical landscape of Bharat with his innovative leadership and unrelenting dedication to the advancement of Dalits.

भारत रत्‍न मिलने पर भावुक हुए कर्पूरी ठाकुर के छोटे बेटे डॉ वीरेंद्र ठाकुर।#FORMERCMBIHAR #KARPURITHAKUR pic.twitter.com/ZBahrA4WL7

— News18 Bihar (@News18Bihar) January 23, 2024

Karpoori Thakur is the third person from Bihar to receive this honour.

It was well known that Karpoori Thakur spoke up for the interests of the underprivileged. He will be Bihar’s third recipient of the nation’s highest civilian award. The first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan were bestowed with this accolade prior to him. Bismillah Khan, who was born in Bihar, has also received the Bharat Ratna. However, his birthplace is Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh but his family still lives in Kashi. It is notable that for the past 20 years, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has insisted on Karpoori Thakur receiving the Bharat Ratna.

His personal secretary, Surendra Kishore, said this

A top journalist from Bihar named Surendra Kishore commented, “He truly deserved it.” Kishore had previously worked as Karpoori Thakur’s personal secretary. He did not initiate caste-based mobilization, despite the fact that it is happening in his name today. Forward and backward had a different connotation than that. The people living around his mind are also no longer in this world; otherwise this happiness would have been greater. I’m happy. Bihar is happy. This public leader has to get his real rights. This was being awaited since his death.

पर्व त्यौहर की तरह ही, बहुत खुश हैं: राम नाथ ठाकुर

PM मोदी ने कर्पूरी ठाकुर के बेटे राम नाथ ठाकुर को किया फोन, सपरिवार मिलने के लिए दिया न्यौता। पीएम मोदी के साथ बातचीत को लेकर क्या बोले राज्यसभा सांसद राम नाथ ठाकुर, सुनिए।#Bihar #RamNathThakur #KarpuriThakur #BiharTakBits pic.twitter.com/vCjw2q8Mus

— Bihar Tak (@BiharTakChannel) January 24, 2024

Son Ramnath Thakur expressed gratitude to the authorities

Ramnath Thakur, the son of Karpoori Thakur, expressed gratitude to the government on behalf of the 15 crore citizens of Bihar for making this choice. Ramnath Thakur stated to the media that we had a phone conversation with Prime Minister Modi. “I welcomed the Central Government on its decision to award Karpoori Thakur the Bharat Ratna on behalf of all the underprivileged, oppressed, and exploited people. He said that on or after January 26, the Prime Minister had summoned him to visit him in Delhi. “Since I come from a lower socioeconomic class, I can relate to Karpoori Thakur’s contribution,” the PM remarked to Ramnath Thakur during their conversation. Countless people throughout the nation have benefited from Karpoori Thakur’s social justice politics.

24th January was actually Karpoori Thakur’s birthday

On the eve of Republic Day, the Central Government usually announces the recipients of the Padma Awards and occasionally the Bharat Ratna as well. This time, Bharat Ratna was declared by the government two days prior to Republic Day. Karpoori Thakur is set to receive a posthumous Bharat Ratna on the occasion of his birth anniversary on January 24.

Social justice activism was sparked by Karpuri Thakur

Bihar’s politics of social justice are credited to Karpoori Thakur as their sparkplug. Karpoori Thakur was born in the typical barber family. It is stated that he attained his political status by pursuing anti-Congress politics throughout his life. Indira Gandhi made every attempt to have him arrested, even during the Emergency.

During 1970 and 1977, Karpoori Thakur held the position of Chief Minister

In 1970, Karpoori Thakur assumed the position of Chief Minister for the first time. He became the state’s first governor on December 22, 1970. It was only 163 days into his first term. Even after the Janata Party was victorious in the 1977 Janata wave, Karpoori Thakur was appointed Bihar’s second Chief Minister. He was not even able to finish his term. Even after this, during his tenure of less than two years, he worked for the interests of the downtrodden people of the society. Education was made free till matriculation in Bihar. At the same time, it was made mandatory to work in Hindi in all departments of the state. During his tenure, he did many such works in favor of the poor, backward and extremely backward, which brought about a radical change in the politics of Bihar. After this, the political power of Karpoori Thakur increased tremendously and he became a big face of socialism in the politics of Bihar.

Karpoori Thakur was the political guru of Lalu and Nitish

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar, who are doing the politics of socialism in Bihar, are the disciples of Karpoori Thakur. Or rather he was his political guru. During the Janata Party era, Lalu and Nitish learned the tricks of politics by taking the finger of Karpoori Thakur. In such a situation, when Lalu Yadav came to power in Bihar, he took forward the work of Karpoori Thakur. At the same time, Nitish Kumar also did many things in favor of the extremely backward community.

Karpoori Thakur is significant in the politics of Bihar

Election analysts claim that Karpoori Thakur is too important to ignore in Bihar politics. Even though Karpoori Thakur passed away in 1988, the voters in Bihar who consider themselves backward or extremely backward still have a lot of affection for him. It is notable that over 52% of people in Bihar are considered backward or extremely backward. To increase their influence in such a setting, all political parties continue to use Karpoori Thakur’s name. For this reason, the Congress’s 2020 platform included an announcement to establish the “Karpoori Thakur Suvidha Kendra.”

बिहार के पूर्व CM कर्पूरी ठाकुर के भारत रत्‍न मिलने पर पुत्र राज्यसभा सांसद रामनाथ ठाकुर का बयान।
कहा- 36 वर्षों से वो मांग करते रहे, लेकिन किसी ने ध्यान नहीं दिया। लेकिन 100 वर्ष पूरा होने पर भारत सरकार ने इसकी घोषणा की, उसके लिए वो भारत सरकार को बधाई…
#KARPURITHAKUR pic.twitter.com/5W63L4vF1U

— News18 Bihar (@News18Bihar) January 23, 2024

48 persons have so far been granted this accolade

This greatest distinction was first given approximately 68 years ago, and 48 celebrities have received it so far. It was initially presented to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Chandrashekhar Venkataraman, the scientist, and Chakraborty Raj Gopalachari, the first governor general of independent Bharat, in 1954.

Sixth celebrity to be awarded the honor in a decade

Thus far, five individuals have received the highest honour throughout the nearly ten years of the Modi government. Karpoori Thakur will now be the sixth recipient of this distinction. Before late Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh, this highest honour was given to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in the year 2015 during the first term of Modi government. Four years later, a few months after the last Lok Sabha elections, it was announced to give the highest honor to three personalities.