Speeche's & Video's
7th National Amity Award to Late Mr. Sunil Dutt by Shri M. Hamid Ansari, the Hon'ble Vice-President of India.
Welcome speech by Mr. Virendar Mohan Trehan, President, FANS
Respectable Shri M. Hamid Ansari, Hon’ble Vice President of India, Ms Priya Dutt, M.P, and our distinguished guests.
This is the Silver Jubilee Year of our Foundation & it is a matter of great pride and honour for us to have amongst us our Hon’ble Vice- President, Sh.Hamid Sahib to give away the National Amity Award to Padma Shree Sunil Dutt ( Posthumously), the legendary actor, director, Producer, a true Secular politician, The award would be received by Ms. Priya Dutt, Member, Lok Sabha, who is carrying forward the legacies of her father Shri Sunil Dutt.
On behalf of “Foundation for Amity and National Solidarity”, I welcome you all to the momentous occasion. Our Chief Guest, Sh Hamid Ansari, is a personality, incomparable for his intellect & services rendered by him in the fields of education, literature and diplomatic missions for the country. To name a few of his achievements, I would like to apprise the audience that Hamid Ji, besides serving on assignments as ambassador to a number of countries, has served, as a permanent representative to the United Nations. In the field of academics, he served as Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, has been a visiting professor at JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia Universities. Not only that, he has authored a book and penned a number of academic papers. Before taking over the office of Vice President of India, Hamid ji was entrusted with responsibilities to Chair a number of Committees, commissions and advisory boards. Sir, we are honored with your presence at our function today I would like to apprise the audience that the Foundation for Amity and National Solidarity was born when we, the people of various faiths, deeply grieved with the events that shook our nation on the tragic Assassination of our beloved Prime Minister Indira Ji & the communal disturbances that followed there after, got together to develop the feelings of love & brotherhood & of national integration amongst the youth of our country. The Founders, besides me, were Sh Nawabzada Aimaduddin Ahmad Khan (Dhurrumian), Late Sardar Avtar Singh Dhingra Ji & Sh P L.Joseph and we decided to make our small contribution to the society
Foundation for Amity and National Solidarity, ladies and gentlemen was born as a non-political, non-partisan social organization. The ideals of national integration, social harmony and universal brotherhood have been ingrained in it from the very beginning and we have propagated them all over the country through more than 400 social events.Our Foundation, for a quarter century, now has been making efforts to reignite the spirit of nationalism. As a result, our painstaking efforts have made the Foundation known widely throughout India and also abroad.
Our Foundation, FANS works at the grassroots without much fanfare or publicity. We try to spread the message of national integration to the far flung areas of the country through inter-religious meets, inter- university youth camps, seminars, workshops, peace marches, sadbhavana sabhas and other similar social activities that brings like -minded people together. We have so far been successful in our endeavor and efforts to inculcate the spirit of unity, amity and harmony in our members, especially the youth across the nation through our events.
The Foundation has received recognition as an NGO affiliated to the United Nations. The first prestigious C U Shah National Integration Award of Janambhoomi was presented to the Foundation in June 1994. Several years back, our Foundation decided to institute the “National Amity Award”. This is awarded to a known Indian personality, who has made exceptional contribution towards achievement of the objectives our Foundation.
The previous Awardees, are well known personalities like, Sh. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Late Sh. Nani A Palkhivala, Late Shri Jathedar Jiwan Singh Umranangal and Late Ms. Nirmala Despande. The last award had gone to Shri Khushwant Singh, the well known writer and proponent of social justice.
For the award this year, the National Amity Award Board ,consisting of Shri M. M. Jacob, Sh. G.C. Saxena, Shri Abid Hussain,Shri Rajasekhran, me (as the President of FANS) and Brig S K Trehan Vice President, FANS, deliberated on the name of the next awardee of the National Amity Award.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce, before you, the decision of the National Amity Award Board. After great deliberations and considering several nominations, we have come to a unanimous decision, that, this coveted award, the 7th National Amity Award should go to none other, but late Shri Sunil Dutt for his tireless efforts to promote peace, love, unity and harmony amongst people of different religions and regions.
It is our honour today, to give this award to someone who has been a popular actor, director producer-cum politician, and most of all an Indian in the true sense of it. Late Suni Dutt was a true Nationalist & his association with our Foundation dates back to late 80s when he participated in our TV serial “Yeh Gulistan Hamara.” Permit me to explain his participation with a small visual display.
We are indebted to Ms Priya Dutt, for honoring us all, by giving her consent, to be with us and receive the Amity Award for 2010 on behalf of Padam Shree Sunil Dutt ( Posthumous).
Ladies & Gentlemen , the 7th National Amity Award consists of a token sum of 1,00,000/- (Rs. One Lakh), and a citation. It is humble way, to express our gratitude, to the great person, like Sunil Dutt who not only excelled in the fields of art but also won the hearts of people world over by his contributions to the causes of peace & sufferings of the people.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of our Foundation, I extend a very warm welcome to Hon’ble Vice President of India, Sh.M. Hamid Ansari ji and Ms. Priya Dutt I also welcome you all, friends, who have responded to our invitation. Some of you have travelled large distances from far and near, from places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkatta, Chandigarh and Chennai, etc.! Dear friends, Our Foundation is a movement that has been going on for the past 25 years. We are committed to continue our efforts of propagating our message of amity ,national solidarity, friendship, peace, love and harmony.
Thank you, my friends for gracing this occasion with your presence. We feel honoured and hope to receive your support always.