The Centre awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to publisher Gita Press from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, evoking strong reactions from the opposition party Congress.
Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by the Government of India in 1995, on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to the ideals espoused by him. Gita Press is celebrating its centenary this year.
A committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday decided to award the prize to Gita Press. The award carries a cash amount of one crore rupees, a citation and a plaque. Gita Press, however, has refused to accept Rs 1 crore cash reward for the Gandhi Peace Award, adding that it would only accept the citation and not the cash prize.
Gita Press, established in the year 1923, is one of the largest publishers in the world. This press has so far published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages. This includes 16.21 crore copies of Bhagwad Gita. The organisation has never relied on advertising in its publications for revenue generation.
Home Minister Amit Shah, in a tweet, commended Gita Press' contribution to literature. "If India's glorious ancient Sanatan culture and base texts can be read easily today, Gita Press has an incomparable contribution to this. For more than 100 years, Gita Press has been doing a wonderful job of selflessly taking many holy books from Ramcharit Manas to Shrimad Bhagwad Gita to the masses. Geeta Press getting the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 is an honour for these Bhagirath works being done by them," he tweeted.
Congress's reaction
Calling the decision a "travesty", senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh likened it to awarding Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse.
"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," he said in a tweet.
BJP Hits Back
In response to the criticism, the BJP claimed that the Congress is a "Hindu-hating party".
"Congress has sheer hatred for anything Hindu. From Hindu terror to opposing Ram Mandir to Bhagwa terror to blaming Hindus for 26/11 & now attacking Gita Press. Congress = Hindu hating party! They wanted to ensure Ram Mandir is never built Does Uddhav Sena agree with their attack on Hindus, Hindutva and even on Savarkar?" BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "Congress thinks that all awards and recognition should fall into the kitty of only one family. Do they know about the contribution of Gita Press?"
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated the Gita Press for being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021.
"Heartiest congratulations to Gorakhpur-based Geeta Press, the most important centre of religious literature of Sanatan Dharma of India, on receiving the 'Gandhi Peace Prize' for the year 2021," Adityanath said in a tweet.
The award in the past has been given to organisations such as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ramakrishna Mission, Akshaya Patra, Sulabh International, and luminaries like Late Dr Nelson Mandela, Baba Amte, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others.
