NATIONAL COMMUNAL HARMONY AWARDS, 2008 ANNOUNCED

26 January, 2009,12:48 IST

Indian Ministry of Home Affairs Press Releases

Dr. Dominic Emmanuel SVD and Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan have beenselected for the National Communal Harmony Award for the year 2008.The Jury, headed by the Vice-President of India, selected Dr. DominicEmmanuel SVD, Delhi in the individual category and a Delhi basedorganisation Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan in the organisation category.
Dr. Dominic Emmanuel SVD, aged 57 years, has been working for communalharmony for the past two decades. Having a Ph. D. on 'Communication asDialogue: Its Progressive Recognition in Modern Christian, Academicand Broadcast Discourses', Dr. Emmanuel has been in the service ofinter-religious dialogue. He has been actively involved in resolvingconflicts/ differences between different communities. His literaryworks include 14 books on subjects covering value education for schoolchildren and communal harmony. He has been contributing articles innational dailies for the promotion of communal harmony and nationalintegration. He has worked as Radio Journalist on the themes ofcommunal harmony. He also participated in sadbhavna yatras in theaftermath of Gujarat riots 2002. He is also one of the foundingmembers of Parliament of Religions (Sarvadharam Sadbhav).
Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan, Delhi was established in the year 1964and has been working for communal harmony since 1960s. The Anjuman hasbeen organizing a weeklong unique historical festival every year i.e.'Phool Walon ki Sair', in Delhi for more than 40 years. The festivalis a symbol of solidarity amongst Hindus and Muslims. Considered as anemblem of communal harmony, the pankhas of Phool Walon Ki Sair, arepresented to the President and Vice-President of India besides otherdignitaries. The Anjuman involves troupes projecting diverse culturalrepresentations from various states and with different religiousbackground that participate in Phool Walon ki Sair, conveying themessage of communal harmony.
The National Communal Harmony Awards were instituted in 1996 by theNational Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an autonomousorganisation set up by Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs,for promoting communal harmony and national integration. The award hasbeen instituted with a view to demonstrating due appreciation andrecognition of the efforts of individuals and organisations/institutions for promotion of communal harmony and nationalintegration in a sustained manner over a sufficiently long period oftime.
In addition to a citation, the award carries a cash award of Rs. 5.00lakh and Rs.2.00 lakh for the organisation and individual categories,respectively.