Ramon Magsaysay award: India

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Indians who have been awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in the past: 1956-2006; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, July 30, 2015

This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Communists and the award

2022

Sep 5, 2022: The Times of India

Thiruvananthapuram : The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation had picked former Kerala health minister and CPM’s central committee member K K Shailaja for the 64th Magsaysay award a few weeks ago but she turned it down following her party’s diktat. Shailaja had played a stellar role as health minister, initially during the Nipah outbreak and later during the Covid pandemic.


CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that the party leadership had rejected an award in the name of Ramon Magsaysay, a ‘known oppressor’ of Communists in the Philip-pines. “Shailaja was chosen as an individual. But the fight against Covid-19 was not the achievement of any single person. Generally, political leaders are not consid-ered for the Magsaysay award,” he said. “Ramon Magsaysay was an anti-Communist,” Yechury added. 
Shailaja defended the party decision. “I’m a political leader. Generally, the award is not given to political leaders. It was in this context I discussed the matter with the party leadership and then informed the award foundation that I am not willing to receive the award,” she told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala’s management of the first wave of Covid-19 — especially its emphasis on proactive and early tracking, testing and treatment — had won international acclaim and Shailaja as health ministerhad played a pivotal role.


CPM dismissed speculation that the party leadership made her reject the Magsaysay award due to Shailaja’s rising popularity and the perception that she was an emerging leader who could even replace Pinarayi Vijayan as Kerala chief minister at some point.


CPM’s new state secretary M V Govindan said there was a plot behind the move to present Magsaysay award to a communist leader. “Magsaysay was a prominent antiCommunist. To present the award in his name to a Communist is an attempt to dishonour the recipient. Shailaja understood this and took the right decision,” he said.