Gandhi Peace Prize row: Gita Press refuses Rs 1 crore cash prize

Gita Press, Gorakhpur, the world’s largest publisher of Hindu religious texts, has refused to accept the Rs 1 crore cash reward for the 2021 Gandhi Peace Prize amidst controversy on being picked the winner. 

The publisher was declared the winner after a jury headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi unanimously selected it as the award recipient on Sunday, India Today reported. 

The PM took to Twitter to congratulate the publisher on the prize and highlighted its work and contributions over the century. 

"I congratulate Gita Press, Gorakhpur on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021. They have done commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among the people. @GitaPress," Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter. 

The Gandhi Peace Prize includes Rs 1 crore in cash, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

The publisher, however, refused the monetary reward and only accepted the citation, stating that the money would be better used elsewhere.

The Indian National Congress severely criticised the jury’s pick of the awardee, calling it “a travesty” and “like awarding Savarkar and Godse”. 

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh scrutinized the publisher’s history and highlighted Gita Press’ rocky relationship with Mahatma Gandhi and his ideologies in its early years. 

"There is a very fine biography from 2015 of this organisation by Akshaya Mukul in which he unearths the stormy relations it had with the Mahatma and the running battles it carried on with him on his political, religious and social agenda," Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter. 

The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award that began in 1995 on Mahatma Gandhi’s 125th birth anniversary. The award celebrates Gandhi’s ideals and ideologies and is a tribute to him.