National Bravery Award - History

History

On October 2, 1957, India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was watching a performance at Delhi's Ramlila ground, at the Red Fort. During the performance, a short circuit caused a fire to break out in a shamiana (decorated tent). Harish Chandra, a 14-year old scout, promptly took out his knife and ripped open the burning tent, saving the lives of hundreds of trapped people. This incident inspired Nehru to ask the authorities to establish an award to honor brave children from all over the country. The first official National Bravery Awards were presented to Harish Chandra and one other child on February 4, 1958, by Prime Minister Nehru, and the ICCW has continued the tradition ever since.

The Sanjay Chopra Award and the Geeta Chopra Award were established in 1978, in memory of two Chopra children who lost their lives while confronting their kidnappers. The Sanjay and Geeta awards are given to a boy and a girl for acts of bravery. The Bharat Award was established in 1987, and the Bapu Gaidhani Award was established in 1988.

In 2001, Scholastic published a commemorative book featuring the winners of the 1999 National Bravery Awards. The book was entitled Brave Hearts.

Read more about this topic:  National Bravery Award

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.
    Henry Geldzahler (1935–1994)

    The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product of history and given social relations removes all barriers to coercion and manipulation by the powerful.
    Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

    It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.
    Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)