Noted filmmaker and poet Muzaffar Ali was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana award on Wednesday.
The award, instituted by the All India Congress Committee in honour of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was presented to Mr. Ali by AICC president Sonia Gandhi and the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Jawahar Bhawan here.
The AICC celebrates “sadbhavana diwas” every year to mark the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Hailing Muzaffar Ali as a “versatile artist, painter, filmmaker, poet and even a designer”, Ms. Gandhi said he truly deserved the honour. Dr. Singh said India and the world needed “more harbingers of peace and love as Muzaffar Ali”.
Praising Rajiv Gandhi for his liberal, tolerant and secular values, Dr. Singh expressed concern at the “recent rise of communal incidents” and said such incidents must not divide society.
