NEW DELHI: Pakistani journalist and author of the recently launched book, ‘Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience’, Reema Abbasi, has been honoured as the best literary personality of the year at the Fifth Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Awards held in New Delhi.
The largely attended event was organised by Pehchaan, an NGO focused on nurturing the girl child that is led by prominent media professionals, activists and policymakers, who recognised the tome as a valuable chronicle of shared history.
I read the comments at the end of the article. Lots of sporting comments from Pakistanis. Was disappointed by some aggressive comments from the Indian side.
Some Pakistanis asked a legitimate question - does her award have more to do with the topic or her writing?
My instinct tells me a bit of both. And that would be a shame.
Others wanted to know who the previous winners were and the topic of their work. While the awards have been in place only for 5 years, it would be good to have this information.
^^I do not find any problem in conferring her the award even if the subject of the book is the reason.It is a known fact that there are hundreds of Hindu temples across Pakistan and many are being in an abdicated state and many are being renovated by the state and by the kind donors across the world.Many such temples have historical prominence and this is the first time an author,especially a female author has come up with such a context.She truly deserves it.A book or work should be judged not only based on the context but also the ground realities have to be valued.
