One of the most prominent, THE INDIA HARMONY FOUNDATION, has
announced that it has chosen Mr. Prasoon Joshi, National Award winning
songwriter, screenwriter and advertising copywriter, Padma Shri Alok Mehta,
senior journalist and Editor of several National Hindi dailies including Hindi
Outlook, Padma Shri Laila Tyabji, an innovative and talented designer and the
Chairperson of Dastkar and Ms. Shabnam Virmani, an NID Ahmedabad alumni and a
documentary film maker and artist, as the winners of Chishti India Harmony
Awards 2013 for their outstanding contribution to the cause of building bridges
between communities and making India move towards becoming ONE NATION AND ONE
SOCIETY, the motto of India Harmony Foundation.
"We're extremely happy to honour these distinguished
people for their immense contribution to the cause of promoting peace, harmony,
trust and cordiality between communities in India," said Shri Zafar
Saifullah, Founder President of India harmony Foundation and former Cabinet Secretary,
Government of India. "India, as a nation, needs more such sensitive people
actively working towards creating an environment that is more peaceful and
conducive for our youngsters. Let us all learn from their examples and take a
pledge to leave our youngsters a legacy they can be proud of!"
Founded by a few eminent citizens including Shri Zafar
Saifullah, former Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, The India harmony
Foundation, in the 4 years of its existence, has instituted and conferred the
annual Chishti India Harmony Awards from 2010 onwards. The Foundation has made
it a point to select as its awardees, individuals who have made outstanding
contributions in the promotion of greater understanding of India's pluralistic
society.
"The galaxy of awardees in the last three years bear
ample testimony to the care which the Foundation has bestowed in their
selection. The awardees have been selected only for the work done and results
achieved and not on the basis of their eminence or national status," added
Shri Saifullah.
The awardees this year, too, follow the same discriminating
tradition.
Shri Prasoon Joshi needs no introduction and his various
works have been lauded across the nation. Through this award, the Foundation
has tried to underscore the ethos of National integration which runs through
his compositions such as the poem he composed on Ayodhya, which figured on
national television and the various poems composed by him on national issues
such as the Uttrakhand disaster, which was again on the national television.
Recently, he has composed a poem on Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti on his recent
visit to the Dargah.
Padma Shri Alok Mehta in his personal life and work has
symbolized the same spirit of national integration. He was awarded the Padma
Shri for his work as an eminent writer in Hindi as well as an eminent Editor of
several National Hindi dailies as well as of Hindi Outlook. His secularism is
the guiding spirit of his journalistic career.
Padma Shri Laila Tyabji, also does not need any introduction.
As the Founder and moving spirit behind Dastkar her work speaks for itself.
Descended from a family of freedom fighters, social workers and outstanding
public servants, Laila has made the country and the community proud by her
outstanding contribution to the economic well being of artisans in India.
Ms. Shabnam Virmani, an outstanding student of NID
Ahmedabad, who in an inspired moment after the Godhra riots, has taken to
propagating the message of Kabir through her travels across India, producing
documentaries and singing the verses of Kabir. Through this she has motivated a
large number of groups and individuals to adopt the path of love and
understanding cutting across barriers of caste and religion.
Since its inception, The India Harmony Foundation has
organized a large number of major cultural events across the country in Delhi,
Bangalore, Mumbai, Amritsar and Jammu & Kashmir showcasing the rich
multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual fabric of India.
The Foundation stands for promoting these values across the
length and breadth of the country. Its future plans include:
- The establishment of India Harmony Centers in the metros for young people to strengthen India’s syncretic tradition.
- The Foundation also proposes to prepare syllabi & text for students and teachers so that instruction in our schools can sow the seeds of respect for each other’s faith in future generations.
- Producing a world class magazine showcasing India’s multicultural traditions.
In 2010, The Chishti Harmony Awards were presented by Shri
Salman Khurshid, then Hon'ble Union Minister for Minority Affairs to Shri
Siddharth Vardarajan, then Resident Editor of
"The Hindu" and Pandit Ghulam Dastagir, an Urdu, Arabic and
Sanskrit scholar for his work of translating the Holy Quran to Sanskrit.
The second Chishti Harmony Awards, 2011, were given by the
Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari to Begum Bilkees Latif for
her excellent work in building bridges between communities in Asia’s largest
slum cluster, viz Dharavi, Mumbai; and Pandit Yugal Kishore Saran Shastri of
Ayodhya, who has worked tirelessly and successfully for the cause of amity
between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Ayodhya, after the demolition of
the Babri Masjid.
The third Chishti Harmony awards in 2012 were presented to
Shri Harsh Mander, eminent social worker & member, NAC and Begum Hamida
Habibullah, founder of SEWA and former Rajya Sabha MP by Kumari Selja, Hon’ble
Union Minister for Culture, Government of India.
