Darjeeling: Hill makes case for Bharat Ratna to Tenzing

Tenzing Norgay Sherpa needs no introduction whether in Darjeeling or outside, but the people in the hills would like their home-grown hero to be accorded the highest civilian honour in the country.

Tenzing along with New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary scaled the then unconquered Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

Now, more than 26 years after Tenzing’s death and 60 years after he summitted the Everest, the hill people want the Bharat Ratna to he conferred posthumously on him.

Tenzing’s son Jamling Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who himself scaled the Everest in 1996, said his father’s achievement back in 1953 had given hope to a young independent India.

“Before my father achieved the feat, our young nation was looking for non-political heroes for inspiration. After the unachievable feat, India was brought back to limelight, back into international focus.”

The chorus for the Bharat Ratna has gathered steam in the hills ever since the Prime Minister’s Office issued a notification in 2012 relaxing the ambit of the award.

Earlier, the award was restricted to exceptional achievements in “art, literature, science and public service”.

Following a change in rules, the Bharat Ratna can now be awarded to “recognise excellence in any field of human endeavour”.

P.T. Sherpa, the vice-president of the United Sherpa Association in Darjeeling, said Tenzing should now be given the country’s highest award. 

“We believe that Tenzing should be given the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award. We have already met chief minister Mamata Banerjee on this issue. She was convinced but till date, there has not been much progress.”

Within months of the successful Everest expedition, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru facilitated Tenzing’s tour around the world.

Nehru personally took an initiative to set up the first mountaineering institute in the country, the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling, Tenzing’s hometown.

The Everester was made the director of the institute since its inception in 1954.

Tenzing remained in the post till 1976 after which, he was made an advisor to the institution, a post he held till he breathed his last on May 9, 1986, at the age of 71.

After the Everest feat, several countries felicitated the Everest team.

“My father received the George medal in 1953 from the British government, the Shah of Iran medal, the Nepal Tara and Nepal Pratap Vardak awards,” Jamling said.

Several other governments — of the erstwhile USSR, France and Italy — felicitated Tenzing.

He was also honoured with the British Coronation medal.

In India, Tenzing was given the Padma Bhushan in 1959, six years after the he scaled the Everest, which still rankles some people in the hills.

“In 1959, Tenzing was awarded with the Padma Bhushan,” said Jamling.

Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the country after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.

To rub salt on the delayed Padma Bhushan wound, the government posthumously conferred the Padma Vibhushan on Hillary in 2008.

Hillary and John Hunt, the leader of the Everest expedition, were knighted in 1953.

“There is little doubt that the 1953 achievement is being forgotten in India. It is definitely being neglected,” Jamling said.

New Zealand reminds its citizens of Hillary’s achievement even today.

In 1992, Hillary’s picture appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note, making him the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote in his lifetime.

Both Hillary and Tenzing featured on a New Zealand stamp.

In 2010, when the Commonwealth Games were held in Delhi, the New Zealand team created an identifier as 29028-Hillary Tenzing.

The figure 29028 in the logo stands for the height of Mt. Everest in feet when it was conquered by the duo.

“I think my father has only appeared in a postal cover (envelope) in India,” said Jamling.

Jamling and Hillary’s son Peter were invited to march with the New Zealand contingent at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

In May this year, Jamling was invited by the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, West London, to mark the 60th anniversary of the conquest.

“On May 28, I attended a function in West London where a book titled The Conquest of Everest authored by George Lowe and Huw Lewis-Jones was released,” said Jamling.

Lowe was one of the last surviving members of the 1953 expedition. He died in March this year.

Jamling and Peter along with other well-known mountaineers from the UK interacted with budding climbers, students and the local people as part of the celebration.

On May 29, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Royal Geographical Society and met the families of the Everest expedition team members, including Jamling and Peter.

The success of John Hunt’s team had been relayed to the nation in the morning of June 2, 1953, the day of the Queen’s coronation and the royal family has a special bond with the Everest feat.

“I am not sure if there was any grand celebration for the 60th anniversary of the expedition in Delhi,” said Jamling.

The Telegraph