Padma Awards: Late Dawoodi Bohra leader family among those who refused to accept awards

A senior official confirmed that even though his name was put up on the list of the Padma awardees, his family refused to accept the award.

When contacted, Abdeali Bhanpurwala, executive secretary of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust and one of the spokespersons of Dawoodi Bohra community, refused to cite any reason for the refusal of award. He said, “please ask Rashtrapati Bhawan.” Another spokesperson for the Dawoodi Bohra community Queresh Raghib could not be reached for comments. An e-mail sent to him remain unanswered.

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Burhanuddin was revered as the 52nd Dai-al-Mutlaq (direct in the line of Prophet Mohammed) by the Bohras.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the nodal ministry for the Padma awards, had received nominations for Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin and his name was included in the final list that was released on January 25 by the government.

Apart from Burhanuddin, the others who refused the Padma awards were Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar and Salim Khan, father of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

“Though Burhanuddin saheb’s name was included in the list of awardees, the family citing personal reasons refused the award. Since we had already released the list, the changes were made later. This is the reason his name was not announced or anybody from his family came to attend the investiture ceremony,” said a senior official.

This is not the first time somebody has refused to accept the civilian award. Last year, the family of eminent jurist and former Chief Justice of India Justice JS Verma had refused to accept the Padma Bhushan. Verma’s wife said she did not think it was “appropriate” to accept the award on his behalf as he “never hankered or lobbied for any acclaim, reward or favour.”