(May 19, 2006) : Jesuit priest, Fr. Cedric Prakash, the Director of PRASHANT, the
Ahmedabad based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, has been awarded
France’s highest civilian honour. In a message to Fr. Prakash, the Ambassador of France
to India, Mr. Dominique Girard wrote, “I have the utmost pleasure of informing you
that the President of the French Republic, Mr. Jacques Chirac, has conferred on you
the award of “Knight of the Legion of Honour”, by decree of 18th April, 2006. I warmly
congratulate you for this distinction. By this award, France acknowledges your lifetime
commitment to the defence and the promotion of Human Rights in India”, the ambassador
said. The award was initiated by the then first Consul of the French Republic, Napoleon
Bonaparte in 1802 and is given to an elite group of people, mainly French Nationals
and very exceptionally to foreigners, who distinguish themselves through military
or civilian valour. Fr. Prakash has been a championing the cause of Human Rights in
Gujarat and in other parts of India. In the wake of the Gujarat Carnage of 2002, he
has testified before the US Commission for International Religious Freedom in Washington.
Among the prestigious awards received by him are the Kabir Puraskar, which the President
of India conferred on him in 1995 for his work in the promotion of Communal Harmony
and Peace and in 2003, the Indian Muslim Council, USA presented him with the Rafi
Ahmed Kidwai Award for Humanitarian Work.