MUMBAI: Actress and social activist Shabana Azmi has been named the recipient of this year's Gandhi Peace Award, which will be given to her at a ceremony to be held in the British Parliament next month.
"I am very honoured at being chosen for such a prestigious award, whose previous recipients have been people like the Dalai Lama. I have also been asked to deliver this year's lecture on the significance of Gandhian values in today's strife-torn world," an elated Azmi said.
"I think all of a sudden Gandhi and Gandhian values have become very much the fashion, with people talking about 'Gandhigiri' due to the recent (Sanjay Dutt film) 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', and people are beginning to realise that it is leaders who preached the values of non-violence who are most relevant in today's world," she said.
The award, announced four days ago, is given by the London-based Gandhi Foundation and will be presented to Azmi at a ceremony in the committee room of the British House of Commons on October 26.
Azmi, however, will have to make a hurried trip to London, arriving the same day as the ceremony.
"I will have to make a mad dash because Eid is on October 25 and I can only leave after that. So I will have to get on the airline's case to see that I am on time," she said in a lighter vein.
The former MP is also involved in the rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Mumbai.
"We will rehabilitate 13,000 slum dwellers and hand over 5,000 tenements to them on September 30. I feel fulfilled that I could do so much for them," she said.
