The Quaid Millat Award for Honesty in Politics/Public Life, 2020, will be shared by 82-year-old Bilkis, who led the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, and Karwan-e-Mohabbat, an organisation led by former IAS officer and human rights activist Harsh Mander.
Karwan-e-Mohabbat provides legal protection to people facing atrocities and injustices. The motivating force behind Karwan-e-Mohabbat is former I.A.S. officer, Harsh Mandar, who resigned his job in protest of the Gujarat riots in the year 2002. Bilkis was at the forefront of the anti-CAA-NRC protests and was recently recognised by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020.
M.G. Dawood Miyakhan, general secretary, Quaid Millat Education and Community Foundation, said it was a very difficult choice to make, as many strong candidates and organisations were nominated for the award.
The Quaid Millat Award for Honesty in Politics / Public Life is given to community leaders who are fighting injustices and atrocities in the country. Every year an eminent personality is recognized through this award.
It is given every year since 2015. The former awardees include many social activists and torchbearers of freedom and liberty. They are; A.G Norani, Aruna Rai, Teesta Setalvad, Thol. Thirumavalavan, Syed Shabuddin, Manik Sarkar, R. Nallakannu, N. Sankaraiah etc.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
