NEW DELHI — Congress criticised the government for conferring Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to Gita Press saying that the decision is a travesty and is like awarding Savarkar and Godse.
“The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 has been conferred on the Gita Press at Gorakhpur which is celebrating its centenary this year. There is a very fine biography from 2015 of this organisation by Akshaya Mukul in which he unearths the stormy relations it had with the Mahatma and the running battles it carried on with him on his political, religious & social agenda. The decision is really a travesty and is like awarding Savarkar and Godse,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet criticising the government.
The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 will be conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur, in recognition of its “outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods,” according to an official statement.
The jury headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi unanimously decided to select Gita Press as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize, as per the statement issued by the Ministry of Culture.
Established in 1923, Gita Press is one of the world’s largest publishers, having published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated Gita Press for winning the prize and commended their contribution in the field.
“I congratulate Gita Press, Gorakhpur on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021. They have done commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among the people. Gita Press,” PM Modi had tweeted on Sunday.
The Gandhi Peace Award includes a reward of Rs one crore, a certificate of appreciation and a plaque.
Meanwhile, the Gita Press has refused to accept Rs one crore cash reward for the Gandhi Peace Award.
It said that it would only accept the citation and not the cash prize. — IANS