 "Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to be awarded by Jewish rights group")
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be honoured with a humanitarian award by a prominent Jewish human rights organisation for promoting human dignity, interfaith relations and tolerance among people.
The Art of Living founder will be conferred with Simon Wiesenthal Centre's highest honour 'the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Laureate' at a ceremony in New Delhi on September 21.
Ravi Shankar has joined hands with the Jewish human rights organisation in its activities in the past and had even issued a joint statement, denouncing the widespread marketing of Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, as a 'management tool' in India in 2009.
The award will be given at the Asia Premier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's historical exhibit, "People, Book, Land: The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People with The Holy Land".
"It is appropriate that the Asia launch of this exhibit will take place in New Delhi as the Jewish people know that throughout history they have always been welcomed by the people of India", Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, was quoted in a statement as saying.
"We thank our honoured friend and mentor, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, for his support of this endeavour, and we are grateful to the Indira Gandhi National Centre For The Arts for their partnership and hospitality," Cooper said adding.
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"We are thrilled that so many in Indian society will have an opportunity to learn about the Jewish People, its values and its land," Cooper said.
Other notable humanitarian laureates of the Jewish NGO include Tom Cruise and media baron Rupert Murdoch.
The organisation's exhibit traces the 35 centuries of the Jewish people's relationship with its land, emphasising the universal and particularised values that inspired the unique journey of the Jewish people throughout history and inspired Jews to retain an unbreakable bond and love for their ancestral homeland.
The first such exhibit was co-organised with UNESCO, gaining UN approval, and sponsored by the governments of Israel, Canada and the United States.
It has also been presented at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the UN Headquarters in New York, the Vatican, the US Congress, Israel's Knesset (parliament) as well as in Copenhagen and Chicago.