Civilian honours in the country are usually reserved for those whose contribution to the society deservs to be rewarded . While  all civilian honours  trigger a debate , the recently concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 , had a spcial awards category called the PBD Samman Awards . A look at the list of some of the winners was enough to lay to rest any doubt that one had for some of them these were not “awards” , but “rewards” . The President’s Gazette notification officially was released just an hour before the awards were to be given to the awardees , but unofficially the recommendations made by the MEA were accepted a day before , as the Prime Minister had lunch with them on 8th January and many of them put up pics on social media.

Sources in the  Ministry say that the list of 30 awardee NRI’s was finalized by the Ministry Of External Affairs and cleared by the  PMO. The criteria for selection , however raises questions on their contributions to the promotion of India’s  image globally.  Some of them , seem to have been rewarded for their crucial contribution of   either having ‘managed’ Prime Minister’s tours in 2014-15 or for their having promoted the Hindutva cause

A look at the list is enough to clear the doubts that one may have. One of the PBD 2017 awardees  Sushil Kumar Saraff  from Thailand  is a business tycoon from Thailand and more importantly one of the Global trustees of the VHP.

Prime Minister’s globe trotting tours  drew world wide attention. Some of the people who made it happen , also were amongst the awardees. The Madison square event of Prime Minister Modi on his first US visit catapulted his popularity to a global high , where thousands of people saw the concert like arrangements . The three men behind the success of the event   Dr Bharat Haridas Barai, Mahesh Mehta and Ramesh Shah were rewarded by the Government Of India’s awards at the PBD 2017.

The three men were part of the five men committee that was involved in over-seeing Modi’s first US trip in 2014. Dr. Barai is a Chicago-based physician and an old friend of Narendra Modi, received the Award for “Community Service”. Mahesh Mehta, founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad-America and Ramesh Shah, the President of the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP-USA) also received the award also for “community service”. Mukund Purohit , another Awardee of Gujarati origin from Canada is a member of the overseas friends of BJP – Canada and was awarded the PBD Sanman 2017

The very presence of so many BJP and right wing supporters clearly indicated that it was payback time for the PMO and the party to thank all those who had played an instrumental role in the last two years of keeping the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity graph high or were key men behind the various roadshows.

For those who attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas  2017 at Bengaluru , it will be remembered as an event which was a ‘Modi’ show all through. Right from the Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport  to the venue , huge hoardings had the Prime Minister  Narendra Modi welcoming the delegates ,till the  huge Display screens running looped video speech excepts  of Prime Minister Narendra Modi playing  on all the days non-stop.

India’s 14th Pravasi Bharatiya divas ,to commemorate the return of  Mahatma Gandhi to India on 9th January 1915 was a Naredra Modi road show. While it’s the prerogative of the government to promote the Prime Minister  , what  most journalists covering the event observed was  the huge presence of right wing forces. One could easily mistake the Government Of India’s PBD convention as an international VHP Samagam.

Indian Express on Sunday reported that as many as 28 out of 110 speakers at nine plenary sessions of the events are from Sangh affiliated oganisations.

The list includes many who were a part of organising committee’s of Prime Minister Modi’s events abroad. Sanjeev Krishan Bhakri, one of the keynote speakers at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas website, has been described as a founding member of the Indian-Australian Community foundation that organised Modi’s public reception in Australia in 2014. Bhakri also serves as general secretary Hindu Council of Australia.

Others among the panel with Sangh links include Thailand businessman and Ekal Vidyalaya Movement’s Susheel Kumar Saraff, Hindu Swayam Sewak Sangh Inc’s Arun Kankani, Balesh Singh Dhankar involved with a “platform to connect Indian diaspora and wider community in Australia with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’’, Achaiah Kumar Rao who is working for promotion of AYUSH in Malaysia.