Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
New Delhi, October 3, 2003:

The former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, will be awarded this year's Gandhi Peace Prize by the Government of India for his contribution to world peace and upholding human rights through Gandhian means in the most difficult situations.

The winner of award, which carries an amount of Rs.10 million (convertible in foreign currency), a Citation and a Plaque, was selected by the five-member jury chaired by the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Other members of the jury are Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, V.N. Khare, the Chief Justice of India, Mr. R. Venkataraman, former President of India and Mr. I.K. Gujral, former Prime Minister of India.

Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was also one of the nominees for
this year Gandhi Peace Prize. She was nominated by Servants of the People's
Society, a national social organization in India.

The prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted by the Government of India
for contributions made by a person or an institution who worked selflessly
towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian means, for the amelioration of human suffering particularly of the less privileged sections of the society contributing towards social justice and harmony, irrespective of whether he holds a high public office or not.

The previous awardees include South Africa's Nelson Mandela, former President of Tanzania, Dr. Julius K. Nyerere and Sri Lanka's social scientist Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne.

This year's Prize Winner Vaclav Havel had nominated the Burmese democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, saying that he
holds "her, and her nonviolent struggle for democracy, in high regard.

India conferred its highest civilian honour- Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding- for 1993 to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 14 November 1995 in New Delhi.