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.
In a major diplomatic signal to the region as well as to the global community, India's prime minister-designate Narendra Modi, who surprised the world with his election victory and is set to head the country's next government, has invited heads of all the SAARC countries, including Pakistan, for his oath-taking ceremony May 26.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was Wednesday sent to judicial custody in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, hours after he apologised for resigning as Delhi's chief minister in February.
Since the Lok Sabha elections have ended, I have been roaming around in Delhi where people have come up to me and said that we have already made a mistake, and that we should not repeat it
The Prime Minister's Office Tuesday changed the Twitter handle of the PMO - two days before BJP leader Narendra Modi takes oath as the next prime minister, provoking the BJP to term it an "ungraceful and unethical" move by the outgoing establishment.
President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday formally appointed Narendra Modi as the next prime minister of India after the latter met him, along with senior leaders of his party and the National Democratic Alliance, and staked claim to forming a government.
Calling India a "very important strategic partner", the US hopes that its "enduring partnership" with India will only grow under the new government led by Narendra Modi despite the flap over his visa.
