Two Muslims to be honoured for saving lives of Hindus

By Tarique Anwar, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Abdul Gani Abdullabhai Qureishi from Gujarat and Ghulam Ahmed Bhat from Kashmir will be honoured with Kabir Puraskar 2008 for saving lives of Hindus during violence in their respective states.

According to a Home Ministry statement, Abdul Gani Abdullabhai Qureishi of Vadodra in Gujarat had saved lives of Hindus on two occasions, one in 2006 and another in 2007.

“On May 1, 2006, Vadodara City witnessed widespread communal riots following demolition of a Dargah near Champaner Darwaja. In the ongoing communal violence, two people had lost their life at the same spot. A large violent mob of Muslims had assembled there and two Hindu families in two vehicles passing through that area got caught in the mob fury. Qureishi without caring for his safety, displaying exemplary physical courage, entered the mob riding on his scooter. Braving the stones pelted by the mob he stood there firmly and valiantly rescued both the vehicles with their Hindu occupants from fury of the mob. But for this brave act on the part of Qureishi, these persons would have suffered severe casualty,” says the statement.

“Again on May 26, 2007, one Kalpesh Madhusudan Pawar of Vadodara had gone to Reshamwala Khancha in Yakutpura. Shri Kalpesh would have been hacked to death that night by a violent armed mob of Muslim youth. Qureishi came to know about the plight of this hapless Hindu boy. Without caring for his life, Qureishi again showed his extra ordinary courage and barged into the riotous mob. Bearing blows of lathis on his own body, he rescued Kalpesh Madhusudan Pawar, informed the local police station immediately and ensured his safe retrieval and passage to the Police Station. Qureishi displaying rare physical and moral courage saved the life of a Hindu boy from a fanatic mob. He risked his own life and body for this act,” the statement says.

Giving the details of the heroic deed of Ghulam Ahmed Bhat of Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Ministry release says:

“In March, 1997, militants attacked villages Sangranpora, Budgam in Jammu & Kashmir in which 7 Pandits were killed. Shri Ghulam Ahmed Bhat reached the spot even before the police and he stood guard for whole of the night saving rest of the family members. On the day following the massacre, Shri Bhat cremated the deceased persons without caring for his own life. Shri Bhat also helped their family members in completing legal formalities required for getting the compensation. Defying the militants’ threat, Shri Bhat has all along helped the victims of terrorism. Shri Bhat has great respect for human values and for maintaining communal harmony in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Kabir Puraskar is a national award instituted by the Union government in 1990 to promote communal harmony by recognizing acts of physical/moral courage and humanity exhibited by members of one community, caste or ethnic group in saving lives and properties of the members of another community, caste or ethnic group.

The Kabir Puraskar is given in three categories – Grade-I, Grade-II and Grade-III. Each category carries a certificate with suitable citation and cash amount as follows:
(i) Grade-I Rs. 2,00,000/-
(ii) Grade-II Rs. 1,00,000/-
(iii) Grade-III Rs. 50,000/-

Abdul Gani Abdullabhai Qureishi from Gujarat and Ghulam Ahmed Bhat have been selected in the Grade III category for the Kabir Puraskar 2008.

A list of the people who have been awarded with Kabir Puraskar since its inception is given below.

 

S. N.	Name	State	Year	Grade
1	Huchaverappa	Karnataka	1991	II
2	Dr. Mudassar Ali	Uttar Pradesh	1991	III
3	Parshu Ram Pandey	Bihar	1992	III
4	J.C. Paliwal	Uttar Pradesh	1992	III
5	Hanifbhai I.K. Chippa	Gujarat	1993	I
6	Swami Narayan Dasji	Gujarat	1993	I
7	Md. Ajnul Islam Mandal	Assam	1993	III
8	Md. Abdus Sattar SK	Assam	1993	III
9	Md. Mozibar Rahman	Assam	1993	III
10	Dr. Poniruddin Ahmed	Assam	1993	III
11	Habibur Rahman Pradhani	Assam	1993	III
12	Md. Hanif Ali	Assam	1993	III
13	Md. Sohrab Ali	Assam	1993	III
14	Paramasivan	Tamil Nadu	1993	III
15	Md. Yeasin Pathan	West Bengal	1993	III
16	J.A. Rasheed	Kerala	1994	II
17	Naseem Ahmed Siddiqui	Uttar Pradesh	1994	II
18	Fr. Cedric Prakash sj	Gujarat	1994	III
19	Longjam Tondon Singh	Manipur	1995	I
20	Mithilesh Yadav	Uttar Pradesh	1995	I
21	Ismail Sultan Gaddekar	Karnataka	1995	II
22	Siraj Qureshi	Uttar Pradesh	1995	II
23	K. Vijayakumari	Andhra Pradesh	1996	I
24	Md. Ghouse	Andhra Pradesh`	1996	II
25	Kshirode Deb Barma	Tripura	1996	II
26	Smt. Santna Deb Barma	Tripura	1998	III
27	K. Vadivel Raj	Tamil Nadu	1999	I
28	Mohd. Farid Mazahiri	Uttar Pradesh	2001	II
29	Shri Tej Ram Prajapati	Madhya Pradesh	2003	II
30	Shri Jamal Ahmed Ansari	Uttar Pradesh	2003	II
31	Shri Rama Shanker Singh	Uttar Pradesh	2004	III
32	Shri Md. Aynal Hoque	Assam	2005	II
33	Shri K. Rajarathnam Isaac	Andhra Pradesh	2005	III
34	Shri Ram Babu Singh Chauhan	Uttar Pradesh	2006	III
35	Shri Khalifa Gufran	Uttar Pradesh	2007	III