Noted American historian Prof. Barbara Metcalf was awarded the Sir Syed Excellence Award 2022 by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on the 205 th birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. Prof. Metcalf has written extensively on the history of the Muslim population of India and Pakistan.

 

“Muslims constituted a full quarter of the population at the time of Independence and an important share of the Indian citizenry in the Republic of India thereafter. Yet their histories are understudied and are essential to telling India’s history well.

 

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was a South Asian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he became the pioneer of Muslim nationalism in India. Born into a family with strong debts to the Mughal court, Ahmad studied the Quran and Sciences within the court. He was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh in 1889.

 

The annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been given to the people of Ukraine by the European Parliament in recognition of their resistance to Russian invasion. Following a vote by the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, President Roberta Metsola of the European Parliament named the laureate for 2022 in the Strasbourg plenary room (the President and political group leaders).

 

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named in honour of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov and the prize money is 50 000 euros