Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced the institution of an annual international award to mark the sesquicentennial celebrations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
The announcement was made at a function in the capital on Saturday marking the launch of the year-long Indo-Bangla joint commemorations to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
Held at the capital’s Vigyan Bhavan, the solemn function saw the PM launching the joint celebrations with the planning minister of Bangladesh, Air Vice-Marshal A.K. Khandker (Retd). The launch of the joint celebrations in New Delhi came just a day after similar celebrations were launched in Bangladesh in the presence of Indian vice-president Hamid Ansari.
To emphasise on the joint nature of the celebrations, leading vocal artistes from both India and Bangladesh sang Rabindra Sangeet at Vigyan Bhavan on Saturday.
Speaking about the international award to be instituted in Tagore’s memory, the PM said that it will recognise distinguished contributions towards the promotion of international brotherhood and fraternity. A jury headed by the PM himself will select each year a citizen of the world of outstanding public eminence who has, in his or her life, epitomised the universal ideals that Tagore stood for. The first award, the PM hoped, will be presented by the end of the commemoration period.
Apart from the award, the PM also said that the government is also aware of the task of reviving Visvabharati, the university founded by Tagore. Asserting his personal commitment to this task as this university’s vice-chancellor, the PM said that a lot of resources are being channelled into Visvabharati, including a special grant of `95 crores.
The PM also revealed that the government is also working with Visvabharati to preserve Shantiniketan’s cultural properties. The Archaeological Survey of India, he said, is assisting in the conservation efforts and 27 heritage buildings have been restored.
Further, the PM said that a new auditorium is planned for Visvabharati and the upgradation of the museums of Rabindra Bhavan and Kala Bhavan too is on the anvil.
However, as the PM pertinently pointed out, “But in the final analysis the future of Visvabharati depends not so much on official patronage or resources but the dreams and ambitions of its teachers, students and alumni.” Air Vice-Marshal A.K. Khandker (Retd) noted that Bangladesh and India share a common heritage that dates back to antiquity. Describing Tagore as one of the greatest sons of the subcontinent, he said that the people of Bangladesh can never forget the spontaneous support from the government and the people of India in 1971.
He also chose to mention words like terrorism and militancy. He said that his country believes that for peace and stability, society needs to be free of terrorism and extremism.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Tagore is part of the life of two nations and the person who wrote the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh. She released the first of four commemorative volumes that will be brought out as part of the sesquicentennial celebrations called Rabindra Chitravali. The volumes will be a compilation of around 2,000 paintings of Tagore.
Mr Pranab Mukherjee said the government has tried to focus on projects to take forward the rich legacy of Tagore internationally.