New Delhi   

Felicitating modern heroes

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: The Aurobindo Chaudhuri Memorial Manavata Vikas Kendra of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management on Tuesday felicitated Virbhadra Mishra, the "mahant" of Sankat Mochan temple, and Maulana Abdul Batin, the local "mufti", who had worked towards bringing the Hindu and Muslim communities together during the recent bomb blasts at Varanasi.

Speaking at the PHDCCI Auditorium here, Dr. Mishra and Maulana Batin shared their views on the importance of peaceful co-existence of both communities for the betterment of society. Home Guards Director-General Kiran Bedi, who was the chief guest at the function, handed over Rs.100,000 each to the two modern heroes.

A seminar on "Communal Harmony: A Vision for Tomorrow" was also organised on the occasion.

"What is disheartening is that the threat is continuously being reinforced by a sustained campaign of hatred by the fundamentalists and fascist forces," said Ms. Bedi. "They have and still are distorting religion to build a fascist regime by spreading misinformation, false propaganda and distrust for each other in the hearts of the common citizens."

Economist and management guru Arindam Chaudhuri said: "In the true spirit of the Aurobindo Chaudhuri Memorial Great Indian Dream Foundation's mission, we acknowledge the courage shown by both of them in averting any communal discord. At the same time, their efforts to keep every political party at bay, preventing them from taking any political mileage out of the event is worth appreciating."

The Foundation is supporting development initiatives in the field of health, education and poverty in over 1,800 villages spread across Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala.

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