Date:03/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/03/stories/2008100361711100.htm

National

Kabir Puraskar winners announced

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to confer the Kabir Puraskar for 2008 on Abdul Gani Abdullabhai Qureishi of Gujarat and Ghulam Ahmed Bhat of Jammu and Kashmir for their courageous acts during communal violence.

Qureishi, a resident of Vadodara, has been conferred the award for his role in saving the lives of two Hindu families and a youth from mobs in 2006 and 2007, an official release said.

Selfless service

Bhat, who hails from Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir, was given the award for saving the family members of seven Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants in March 1997 and performing the deceased’s last rites without caring for the safety of his own life.

National award

Kabir Puraskar is a national award instituted by the government for recognising acts of physical or moral courage displayed by a member of one caste, community or ethnic group in saving the lives and properties of a member(s) of another caste, community or ethnic group during caste, community or ethnic violence.

The award carries a cash amount of Rs. 50,000. — PTI