Abdul Hamid to be awarded Maharana Pratap Shourya Puraskar

THANE: Param Vir Chakra recipient Adbul Hamid will be honoured with the Maharana Pratap Shourya Puraskar to mark the Republic Day.

Martyr Hamid, who laid his life for the country in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war will be honoured with Maharana Pratap Shourya Puraskar here at 22nd Rashtriya Kavi Sameelan to be held on January 25, organiser of the event BL Sharma said yesterday.

Hamid's widow and his grandchildren will receive the honour, he added.

Two more awards, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Gourav Puraskar and Dr Harvanshrai Bachchan Sahitya Ratna Puraskar will be conferred on badminton player Ishan Naqvi and writer Yagya Sharma, respectively, Sharma said.

Poets from across the country will participate in the Kavi Sameelan which includes Arun Jemini from Delhi, Devavrat Vajpayee from Lucknow, Abdul Gaffar from Jaipur, Rasbehari Goud from Kota, Bhuvan Mohini from Indore among others.

Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid was a soldier in the 4th Battalion, The Grenadiers of the Indian Army, who died during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in the Battle of Asal Uttar.