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Godfrey Bravery Awards presented

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Maulvi Shaukat of Malwa village in Barmer district of Rajasthan, who rescued 70 students of his madrassa during last year’s devastating floods but lost his entire family, was among seven persons who bagged the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards here on Wednesday.

Bhawani Singh of the erstwhile ruling family of Jaipur gave away the awards to seven individuals and two organisations at a glittering function here. Film actress Preity Zinta, who is the new Godfrey Phillips Bravery ambassador, and musician Vishwa Mohan Bhatt attended the ceremony.

Maulvi Shaukat was at home when he got the information about the students of the madrassa, where he taught, being trapped in floodwaters. Though water was gushing into his own house, he rushed to the seminary and saved 70 students who were on the verge of drowning by evacuating them to a nearby sand dune.

When the Maulvi returned home, he found that all of his family members had been swept away, one by one, during his absence. Villagers call him “Khuda ka banda” (God’s true devotee) having sacrificed his own family to save others.

While the Maulvi was given the silver medal in the “physical bravery” category, other recipients of the awards in the group were Manoj Chauhan, Ramesh Sharma and Master Penju Bohra.

Dhannaram Purohit bagged the “mind of steel” award for spearheading a campaign to help out the disabled.

The awards for “social acts of courage” were given to Ujjaini Senior Citizens’ Forum, Blind People’s Association, Narpat Singh Shekhawat and Master Pulkit Jain. All the recipients were from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

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Godfrey Bravery Awards presented

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