Ram Puniyani and Juzar Salehbhai Bandukwalla get recognistion for their fine work against communalism

The Hindu
Nov 01, 2007)

Indira Gandhi Award given to Puniyani, Bandukwalla

Special Correspondent

They left their distinguished academic careers to enter the arena of public action

Sonia Gandhi urges party to fight communal forces

Communalism in any form is bad, says Professor Puniyani

NEW DELHI: Ram Puniyani and Juzar Salehbhai Bandukwalla — two individuals who renounced “the serenity and security of their distinguished academic careers to enter the often turbulent arena of public action” after the Mumbai riots of 1993 and the Gujarat carnage of 2002 respectively — were on Wednesday awarded the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.

Addressing the awards function, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described communal harmony and co-existence of all great religions of the world as the building blocks of “our civilisation.” Congratulating the two awardees for combining scholarship with activism, he said Indira Gandhi saw efforts for national integration as permanent precautions that an architect incorporates in his building plans.

In her address, Congress president Sonia Gandhi urged the party rank and file to fight communal forces as they were threatening the secular and democratic fabric of the country.

Making an oblique reference to the Tehelka sting disclosures on the Gujarat carnage, she said it was further testimony to the relevance of the work being done by Prof. Puniyani and Dr. Bandukwalla.

In his acceptance speech, Prof. Puniyani said never before in India’s independent history has its national integrity been under such threat as it has been in the past decade-and-a-half.

Of the view that communal politics has nothing to do with religion, he said those whipping up passions in the name of religion were doing great a disservice to the faith they professed.

Stating that communalism in any form was bad, Prof. Puniyani sought to make a distinction between majority and minority communalism. Majority communalism, he said, was more dangerous because it assumed the garb of nationalism.

Dr. Bandukwalla was critical of attempts to provide reservation for Muslims and described it as a crutch that would permanently cripple the community.

“It could set off a race for backwardness within the community and would increase animosity towards Muslims,” he said while making out a case for creating a level playing field for everyone.

Prof. Puniyani took early retirement from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, in the wake of the 1992-93 violence following the demolition of the Babri Masjid and has been instrumental in introducing peace studies in the curriculum of educational institutions, including the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Nirmala Niketan.