Award in the name of Gandhian in Pak

UPDATED  3/5/2011 2:36:56 PM

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad: A leading Pakistani NGO on Tuesday announced that it has instituted an award in the name of late Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande to honour individuals and institutions of South Asia working for peace.

General Council of Pakistan Institute of LabourEducation and Research (PILER) decided to institute the Nirmala Deshpande South Asian Peace and Justice Award, which includes a cash prize of Rs 1 million, at a meeting held yesterday.

The award is a "mark of abiding respect for Didi Nirmala Deshpande and a permanent tribute to her service to humanity", PILER said in a statement. PILER executive director Karamat Ali said an independent jury, selected from all eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, will decide the recipients of the award.

The award will be given away every year on October 17, the birthday of Deshpande. "There would be no other better method to recognise the service of Didi Nirmala," Ali said. Popularly known throughout South and Central Asia as 'Didi', Deshpande died on May 1, 2008. Her love for the people of Pakistan was proved by her last wish to have part of her ashes immersed in the Indus river, Ali said.

Ali and rights activist B M Kutty, who attended Deshpande's funeral in Delhi, brought an urn containing her ashes to Pakistan. PILER and other civil society organisations arranged a peace caravan in May 2008 that travelled from Karachi to Sukkur and immersed the ashes in the Indus at Sadhu Bela in Sindh province. (PTI)

Courtesy:News 24