Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Premier Kristina Keneally Presents
Premier’s Indian Subcontinent Community Awards at the Government House Sydney
(Coverage by Syed
Zafar Hussain)
The Kristina Keneally
government has introduced the Premier’s Indian Subcontinent Community Awards to
recognise the contribution the Indian Subcontinent community has made to the
life, economy and society of NSW.These Awards acknowledge the vibrant culture
and longstanding contribution of the Indian Subcontinent community to our State
and present an opportunity to recognise the business and community leaders who
have helped steer that great contribution.
The inaugural NSW Premier’s Indian Subcontinent Community Service Awards were
announced on February 18 by Premier Kristina Keneally at the Government House
Sydney.Six members of the community were felicitated as significant
contributors, one each in the fields of Trade and Industry, Arts and Culture,
Community Harmony and Community Service, while the award for Lifetime
Achievement was shared by two individuals.
The awardees were picked – from among a whopping 63 nominations – by an
independent judging panel made up of John Watkins (Head of Alzheimers Australia
and former Deputy Premier of NSW), Prof. Veena Sahajwalla of UNSW, Raj Datta
(Chairman of the Deepavali Festival Committee of NSW) and Michael Christodoulou
(CRC commissioner).
The awards were presented by the Premier at a simple ceremony at Government
House, hosted by Stepan Kerkyasharian, Chairman of the Community Relations
Commission of NSW.
“I congratulate the nominees and recipients for their outstanding contributions,
and hope they inspire new generations,” the Premier said on the occasion.
Dressed in a glamorous Sari, the Premier claimed she had “never felt more
beautiful or elegant” .
Pawan Luthra won the NSW Indian Subcontinent Community Award for Community
Harmony. Chandru Tolani won the NSW Indian Subcontinent Community Award for
Trade and Industry. Kumud Merani won the NSW Indian Subcontinent Community Award
for Arts and Culture. Dr Gurcharn Singh Sidhu won the NSW Indian Subcontinent
Community Award for Lifetime Achievement. Dr Siddhalingeshwara (Sid) Orekondy
won the NSW Indian Subcontinent Community Award for Lifetime Achievement. Pawan
Luthra won the NSW Indian Subcontinent Community Award for Community Harmony.
The Indian Subcontinent Community Awards will be an annual affair, following in
the tradition of Chinese, Lebanese, Filipino and Vietnamese community awards.
Sada-e-Watan Sydney would like to Congratulates the Government of New South Wales and all award winners. All 6 Awards was given to the Indian Australians but ignored Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Pakistani and Sri Lankan backgrounds. Australian should do the Right thing & Justice with all Ethnic communities. We think that as a representative of the Australian Pakistani community Mr. Iftikhar Rana and Mr. Ejaz Khan should contact Premier and registered their protest and argue for the equal level for all Asian Communities or NSW Govt should changed the name of the award and removed the Subcontinent and just rename as Indian Awards.
