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.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Monday invoked the name of Lord Ram in an election speech and urged the people to vote out the "corrupt and incompetent Congress government at the centre".
Campaigning ended Monday evening in 64 Lok Sabha constituencies which go to the polls Wednesday when over 85 million voters will decide the electoral fate of 897 candidates including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has said a government headed by him "will go the extra mile" to give justice to all and a dispensation "where nobody needs to be apprehensive or fearful". He said a BJP-led government will be "drastically different" from the UPA's approach to governance.
Thousands of parents are undergoing a harrowing time as they battle to get their children into nursery classes of leading schools in the national capital. But many are celebrating too.
The toll in the twin attacks in Assam rose to 27 Saturday. The state government decided to hand over the probe to the NIA while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as a "cowardly attempt to spread fear and terror".
India Friday successfully test-fired its Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha for the second time in two days, an official said.
