Legion d’Honneur for Fr Cedric Prakash

 MUMBAI: Human rights crusader Fr. Cedric Prakash, sj, Director of Prashant, Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice & Peace, has been awarded with highest civilian decoration of France, the Legion d’Honneur.

Fr. Prakash, who testified before the US Commission for International Religious Freedom in Washington against the Gujarat carnage, received a message from the Ambassador of France in India, Dominique Girard in this regard.

The award,“Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur” (Knight of the Legion of Honour),  will be conferred on Fr. Prakash by the French Ambassador at a function in New Delhi on July 14 2006 (French National Day).

The award was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in May 1802 and first bestowed on July 15, 1804. It is awarded for gallantry in military action or twenty years distinguished service in military or civilian life for work that enhances the reputation of France through scholarship, arts, sciences, politics, etc. 

Fr. Prakash has been a champion of the cause of Human Rights in Gujarat and in other parts of India.