New Delhi: The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the culture ministry said on Monday.

The prestigious prize for the year 2019 is being conferred on late Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman in recognition of his vision to strengthen relations with India, and his efforts to promote peace and non-violence in the Gulf region, the ministry said.

A source in the government told The Wire that while the selection procedure did not allow the Prize to be awarded posthumously but given the contribution of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman towards peace, non-violence and amelioration of human sufferings and special relationship with India, the exception was made as a special gesture to honour and celebrate them.

The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by government of India since 1995, the 125th birth anniversary commemoration year of Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to all people regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex.

The jury for Gandhi Peace Prize is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprises two ex-officio members, the Chief Justice of India and leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.

Two eminent members are also part of the jury – Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation.

The jury met on March 19, 2021 and after due deliberations, unanimously decided to select Bangladesh’s father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Oman’s longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos for the prize, an official statement said.

(With PTI inputs)

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