Gita Press Refuses Cash Reward For Gandhi Peace Prize Honour; Know Why?

OB Bureau

June 19, 2023 2:14 pm

Photo courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Gita Press, Gorakhpur, one of the world’s largest publishers, has refused to accept the Rs 1 crore cash reward for the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 amid a controversy over being picked for the honour. The Congress severely criticised the decision to honour Gita Press, calling it a “travesty” and “like awarding Savarkar and Godse”.

The jury headed by Prime Minister Modi unanimously decided to select Gita Press as the recipient of the award on Sunday. “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. @GitaPress,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Sunday.

The publisher on Monday said that it would only accept the citation, suggesting that the government should spend the cash reward amount elsewhere. The award also includes a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

“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 and social agenda,” party leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted in 1995, on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender. Recent awardees include Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Oman (2019) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020), Bangladesh.