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| FIFTH
MAHAVEER AWARDS – 1999 |
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| 1.
MRS. MANEKA GANDHI
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| Notwithstanding
the strict injunctions, against exploitation of the weak by
the physically strong, by almost all the world religions,
humanity has been exploiting animals and birds for satisfying
their own needs and desires, be it for food or for enjoyment,
taking the form of hunting of animals or taking part in nauseating
events such as bull fighting or bull baiting. In fact even
killing of animals for food is rarely done with mercy or consideration;
the animals are tortured and allowed to die slowly and painfully.
Even the so called domestic pets such as the loyal dogs are
rarely taken good care of. In most of the cases, they are
at best tolerated for their use in guarding one's person or
property.
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 It
is in this context, that the role played by Mrs.Maneka Gandhi
assumes greater significance. She is one of those rare people
who have real empathy for all God's living creatures specially
those which cannot protect themselves against the villainy
of what is euphemistically known as the superior race. For
over two decades now, Mrs.Gandhi has played a dynamic role
in designing and implementing measures for the protection
of animals, birds and other living creatures such as reptiles.
Be it a hospital for taking exclusive care of birds, or a
Ghousala or a Pinjarapol or a Kennel for the dogs, she is
finding ways of improving their structuring and contents with
an eye on the ultimate beneficiary. Over this period she has
been carrying on a running fight with official bodies seeking
greater consideration in sterilising stray animals and in
destroying rabid ones. She has found a home for a large number
of unwanted pets and is helping in building hospitals and
animal sanctuaries to take care of animals at places where
none exist so far. She has agitated valiantly against cruel
practices amounting to torture of animals and birds. She has
exploded a large number of myths such as the one that states
that snakes possess nagamani. Her large number of books and
her T.V. shows focusing on animal welfare continue to attract
millions of readers and viewers. She is also the Chairperson
of the "People for Animals" movement whose sole
aim is to provide for the well being of all living creatures.
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has been a staunch supporter of vegetarianism mainly because
non-vegetarianism involves destruction of animals even if
the means adopted for slaughtering them are the most merciful.
Her argument is that one section of God's creatures can ill
afford to kill another section belonging to the same category
for their personal pleasure. She has also disproved a large
number of reasons usually attributed by non-vegetarians in
support of meat eating by pointing out that there are equally
nutrient vegetarian alternatives available to take care of
our needs for growth.
Even
though the laws of the country provide for stringent punishment
for violation of the dignity of the animals by overloading
them or ill treating them otherwise, cruelty to animals in
one form or another is still widespread mainly because of
the ignorance of the Law Enforcement Agencies, particularly
at the grassroot level, of the provisions of these laws. She
has made a dent in this area of ignorance by arranging for
a compilation of all laws relating to animal welfare. She
is also chairing a number of committees engaged in the work
relating to animal welfare, providing that spark which is
so necessary to ignite the noble but dormant instincts in
a large number of individuals and organisations. Her dynamic
leadership in this area has resulted in the spread of public
awareness of the long neglected need for protection of animals
and birds which as part of the nation's valuable inheritance,
contribute to its environmental balance. All these only go
to show that even a single candle is enough to light a million
lamps, if there is even a single individual who is willing
to go round lighting these lamps. This is the backdrop against
which the Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation has chosen her for the
Mahaveer Award'99 for Excellence in Human Endeavour in the
field of Non-violence and Vegetarianism. The country particularly
the animal kingdom owes Mrs.Gandhi a huge bouquet for her
emotional support, dynamic leadership and the effective results
she has achieved in promoting their welfare notwithstanding
her other more demanding and urgent preoccupations Bhagwan
Mahaveer Foundation joins the millions of Indians interested
in animal welfare in congratulating Mrs.Maneka Gandhi for
getting the Mahaveer Award'99 for Non-violence and Vegetarianism.
2.
DR. G. VENKATASWAMY
Till
recently people were resigned to accept, whatever in their
view fate had in store for them. These include millions of
our countrymen who are born blind or became blind by accident
or neglect or were making good with bare minimum vision. They
thought that this was God's way of punishing them for their
sins in their previous births. But over the years, people
have started realising that if one believes in a divinity
which is kind and considerate, obviously such a divine being
would not believe in punishing a large chunk of humanity by
depriving them of one of the basic human needs, namely vision.
They also realised that the means of restoring or atleast
improving vision did exist in certain parts of the world obviously
provided by the same Almighty and were available to all its
children. Once this became general knowledge coming up of
an institution to assist the people in curing them of their
blindness or defective vision was just one step ahead. A large
number of individuals and institutions started taking the
lead in setting up hospitals for treatment of diseases connected
with the eye.
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 One
of the few institutions which have come up in Tamil Nadu in
this field, is the Aravind Eye Hospital & Post-Graduate
Institute of Ophthalmology. From a modest beginning in 1976
the institution has developed into what it is today, namely
a full fledged Eye Hospital and a Post-Graduate Institute
of Ophthalmology. The Hospital provides comprehensive services
relating to Eye treatment including surgery and over 90 lakhs
of people have been so far benefited by these services during
the last two decades. The Hospital has developed a number
of institutions providing related facilities such as the manufacture
of intra-ocular lenses pharmaceuticals etc. The Aravind Medical
Research Foundation is also involved in basic clinic and operation
research in collaboration with leading international institutions.
Most
of these services are provided by the Hospital at reasonable
costs. What is equally relevant is that people who are relatively
well off are able to get themselves cured either through operation
or by purchase of spectacles at their own cost. But as matters
stand today, almost 2/3rd of the population are under the
poverty line which does not permit them to have recourse to
any effective treatment. It is in this context that the services
rendered by the Aravind Eye Hospital & Post Graduate Institute
of Ophthalmology assumes significance. A large percentage
of the patients treated by the Hospital are below the poverty
line and the treatment provided to them is entirely free of
cost.
As
no vehicle can move without a prime mover providing the motive
force, no institution can develop into a successful one, i.e.
an effective one in the absence of a leader capable of pulling
and where necessary pushing it in the desired direction. Dr.G.Venkataswamy
the Founder of the institution has provided this type of leadership
to the Hospital for over two decades and has been almost single
handedly responsible for the growth of the institution. The
institution has branched out all over Tamil Nadu with Branches
at Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Theni. It has become
virtually a household name in Tamil Nadu for its quality treatment
with emphasis on use of the latest techniques of treatment
and surgery.
Deeply
influenced by Mahatma Gandhiji and Shri Aurobindo, Dr Venkataswamy
realised early in life that the best way to serve our nation
was to do the best in whatever role one is trained for and
one need not become a sadhu or a martyr to serve humanity
and God. Even though theoretically he retired from active
service in 1976 his best was to come during the subsequent
years of his life. Though suffering from rheumatoid arthritis
from his early years and also weakened by the ravages of time,
Dr Venkataswamy set about systematically to set up a comprehensive
organisation for providing treatment to millions of our countrymen
suffering from eye defects. Though grateful patients revere
him virtually as God, he considers himself only as a tool
in the hands of God while serving the patients. His goal is
to spread the hope of relief from pain to every nook and corner
of the country.
Bhagwan
Mahaveer Foundation is happy in congratulating Dr.G.Venkataswamy
for his getting the Mahaveer Award for Excellence in Human
Endeavour for the year 1999 in the field Education and Medicine.
We fervently hope that the presentation of this Award would
stimulate many more individuals and organisations to come
forth to serve the public.
We
are sure that Dr. Venkataswamy will also welcome the competition!
3.
BHAGWAN MAHAVEER VIKLANG SAHAYATA SAMITI
Our
ancient lores are full of stories of handicapped men ruling
kingdoms and emerging victorious in wars even ending up marrying
beautiful princesses notwithstanding their handicaps, be it
a lost arm or a leg. But these successes even if they were
true, were confined to very few. Virtually the entire handicapped
segment of the population continued to suffer indignities,
wallow in poverty and kept cursing their maker for their handicaps.
The tragedy was greater in cases, when the concerned persons
were born with all their limbs in tact but had lost their
limbs either in an accident or on account of some illness,
such as polio. Having experienced complete freedom of action
they felt terribly upset after the loss of these faculties
and spent rest of their lives depressed, dejected, and in
some cases even resorted to suicide.
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 The
representative of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti,
Jaipur, Rajasthan receiving the Fifth Mahaveer Award on behalf
of the Samiti for Excellence in the field of Social and Community
service from Dr. M. Karunanidhi, Hon'ble Cheif Minister of
Tamilnadu at the Annual Mahaveer Awards Day 1999.
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after the development of medical science, access to artificial
limbs was costly, taking a lot of time and the limbs were
too complicated to use and therefore physically enervating.
It is in this background the services provided by Bhagwan
Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti assumes considerable significance
in the lives of handicapped persons in the country who had
lost the use of their legs. The Jaipur Foot designed by the
Samiti and produced on a large scale could virtually be deemed
to be a miracle for those who had lost their legs either above
or below the knees. One of the Foundation's representatives
watched with pleasant surprise when a man who has lost his
knee walked in to be measured for an artificial limb, watched
the limb being made and fitted to the individual and the individual
walked away in visible happiness and satisfaction all within
a period of about 90 to 100 minutes. People who have been
fitted with this device can walk, run, climb a tree or even
ride a cycle, let alone a car. All of us are also aware of
the famous dancer who has been fitted with this device and
has been dancing her way into the hearts of millions of admirers.
The
patients and their attendants who visit the institution are
treated as honourable guests and not as supplicants and what
is more, everything is done with great concern to the sensitivity
of the disabled and entirely free of cost. The Samiti has
helped over four lakhs of people so far with artificial limbs
and has also assisted a number of them in getting rehabilitated
in life. It is indeed no coincidence or even accident that
the reputation of the Jaipur Foot and the Viklang Samiti is
spread not only all over India but has also crossed the oceans
of the world and thousands of people have been benefited by
Jaipur Foot in a number of countries of the world.
Bhagwan
Mahaveer Foundation warmly congratulates the Bhagwan Mahaveer
Viklang Sahayata Samiti, its founders and its management for
their humane dynamic and innovative role in providing relief
to millions of handicapped people. They have erased the stigma
of disability from the hearts and minds of the handicapped
and have made them realise that they too can play a useful
role in society and in the nation. |
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