By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday presented the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award 2006 to social worker Hem Dutta for his “non-violent mass action for peaceful social transformation” of Assam.
Presenting the award on the occasion of the 63rd birth anniversary of the late prime minister, Manmohan Singh noted that Dutta was deeply influenced by India’s ancient ethos of co-existence.
“During his college days, he resolutely stood for non-violent direct action in opposition to compulsory military training. He emerged victorious in that struggle and established his credentials at an early age.”
Manmohan Singh said Dutta organised the Peace Soldiers in Assam and worked for national integration and peaceful social change.
The prime minister said it was people like Dutta who “symbolise hope in our troubled times. His deep humanism was like a ray of sunshine in a dark place. His Peace Mission sought to remove the fear psychosis gripping the minds of people at the time.”
The prime minister said that like a true Gandhian, Dutta camped in areas devastated by bloody violence, facing great threats to his life. His non-violent act assuaged a wounded people and restored their hope and confidence in themselves.
Dutta, 63, was born in Sivsagar district of eastern Assam. Popularly known as Hembhai, he worked closely with pre-eminent Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in the Bhudan or land donation movement.
In 1982, he established in Guwahati ‘Shanti Sadhna’ a centre for peace in the troubled state of Assam – a cause he has devoted his life to.