Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Say No To Padma Award
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Jan, 2015 03:08 PM
Yoga guru Ramdev and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Saturday declined to accept Padma awards, saying the honour could be given to someone else.
Ramdev declined the Padma Vibhushan - India's second highest civilian award - saying that while he was grateful for being chosen for the honour it should be given to someone else and not a "sanyasi".
In a letter to union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, he said he was grateful that the central government thought of his name, which he got to know from media reports, but the honour could be given to some other great person.
"I am a 'sanyasi' and want to serve the country without expecting anything," he said, adding that a recluse must remain the same while he is honoured or disrespected.
"I urge you to give this honour to somebody doing something great. I would be grateful to you," he said.
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also declined to accept the Padma award, saying it could be given to someone else.
The world renowned spiritual guru posted on Twitter that Rajnath Singh called him to inform about it but he declined to accept the award.
According to a statement issued by Art of Living in Bengaluru late Saturday, Ravi Shankar told Rajnath Singh over phone: "I thank the government for considering me for the Padma award. There are many other deserving people. Instead of me, I would like them to honour someone else."
The 59-year-old spiritual guru founded Art of Living in 1981 as an NGO for educational and humanitarian projects with a special focus on stress management.
The organisation operates in 152 countries the world over, benefitting about 370 million people worldwide.
It is Punjab's best kept secret and yet is talked about in virtually every household in the state. The rampant drugs racket and substance abuse in the state have now come to haunt its political elite, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.
A day after taking oath of office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday held wide-ranging discussions here with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on a range of issues including terrorism with a hope to start a new chapter in their strained bilateral ties.
A new Indian government took charge Tuesday with most ministers visiting the offices of their allotted portfolios, some even to two-three offices, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who began with an early meeting at his South Block office.
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was Tuesday released from Tihar jail here after a court ordered his release from judicial custody in a defamation case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took charge as India's prime minister at South Block office at 8 a.m. and soon proceeded to the stately Hyderabad House to meet Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
With a bumper wheat crop in the state this year, the Punjab government has made a payment of Rs.15,473.15 crore to farmers for wheat procured by government agencies, an official said Tuesday.
