Robert Thorp Award
Robert Thorp was an Englishman
who arrived in Kashmir as a tourist in 1865. The
wretched condition of Kashmiris at that time
when forced labour, slavery, etc, were the order
of the day moved Thorp. Thorp travelled across
the length and breadth of
Kashmir
Valley to have a first hand account of the
situation. He soon apprised the British
authorities, who then ruled India, about the
Dogra rulers’ atrocities on the hapless people
of Kashmir.
Thorp’s exposing the Dogra
rulers’ earned him their wrath and ultimately on
the morning of November 22, 1868, he was found
dead probably because of poisoning near Srinagar.
Thorp was buried in a local Christian cemetery
in the heart of Srinagar city. His grave still
bears an epitaph reading: “Robert Thorp who laid
has life for Kashmiris.”
Ironically, very few people in Kashmir know
about Thorp and his invaluable contribution. The
CCS therefore felt it necessary to honour this
unsung hero of Kashmir.
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The
CCS board
with
consensus
decided to give
the
award for
2004 posthumously
to
Aasia
Jeelani,
a
Kashmiri
woman human rights
activist who
was
martyred on 20th April 2004, while monitoring
the Parliamentary Elections in Lolab region of
Kashmir. Aasia was the founder editor of the
only women's human rights magazine in Kashmir,
"Voices Unheard". The
award was accepted by
Aasia's
mother and sister.
The award carries a shawl and a citation.
Gossman,
a US-based human rights activist who has done a
tremendous work on the human rights abuses in
Kashmir. Since Gossman has been repeatedly
denied permission to visit Kashmir by the Indian
government, the award was accepted by a Japanese
scholar on her behalf. The award carries a shawl
and a citation.