Tuesday 11 / February / 2025
Muscat: India's President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Gandhi Peace Prize today.
The winners this year were the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Sulabh International, Ekal Abhiyan Trust, Vivekananda Centre, and Yohei Sasakawa.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, President Kovind said, "The Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the birth of the Mahatma. This year marks his 150th birth anniversary. And this milestone is a celebration not just for India but for all countries and all humanity.
"In the past 25 years, winners of the Gandhi Peace Prize have ranged from Nelson Mandela to Baba Amte, and from the Ramakrishna Mission to Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank. Each of them has been an exemplar of the Gandhian way – of ahimsa and compassion, of service and ethics."
"From Martin Luther King Jr in the United States to Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Lech Walesa in Poland, a dazzling galaxy of statespersons has learnt and borrowed from Gandhiji."
Touching on the the recipients, Kovind praised the Vivekananda Centre and its founder Eknath Ranade, "a remarkable man who lived a life dedicated to the poorest and most deprived."
"The Akshaya Patra Foundation has advanced education and cognition by working to remove hunger and enhance nutrition. It has leveraged modern technology to provide quality meals to schoolchildren. Despite the scale at which it operates, it has been extremely mindful of food hygiene and safety," he added.
"Sulabh International, founded by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, has made crucial contributions to this effort. Dr Pathak and his organisation were sanitation pioneers, advocating its merits and advocating toilets in days and years when not many others were. The Gandhi Peace Prize is recognition of that single minded pursuit of a better, more just world.
"The sole individual to be named for the Prize today is Yohei Sasakawa. He has been instrumental in helping us win crucial battles in the war against leprosy – to prevent and eradicate the disease, and to end stigma and discrimination. Sasakawa is a shining sample of the best characteristics of our Japanese friends."
