On the eve of Republic Day in India, the recipients of the highly esteemed Padma Shri Awards, 2025, have been disclosed. The recipients are 30, including individuals whose impact on society has been immense, for instance, a 100-year-old freedom fighter, a female dhak artiste making a voice against the historical norm of gender, and pioneers of female puppeteers in India.
Among the remarkable Padma Shri awardees is Libia Lobo Sardessai, a Goan centenarian, and a freedom fighter, who contributed a great deal to the struggle against the Portuguese regime. She co-founded in 1955 a clandestine radio station, Voz da Liberdabe (Voice of Freedom), to foster anti-independence sentiment and call for freedom.
Harvinder Singh among Padma Shri Awards 2025 winners
Harvinder Singh, Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games gold medalist has been also awarded Padma Shri for his magnificent contribution to the world of sports. Having expressed gratitude, Singh has posted on Instagram, “It is indeed my kind fortune to be at the mercy of the august President of India.“
The beneficiary, Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old dhak player from West Bengal state, crossed social barriers by training 150 women in the traditionally male domain of dhak playing. They have also lighted, an accompaniment of dhak, and have served customers in the world’s most popular halls including Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain.
The Padma Shri, meanwhile, congratulates Sally Holkar, an 82-year-old American resident philanthropist who has been in Madhya Pradesh for 50 years in the revival of the 300-year-old Maheshwari weaving craft. Just like Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, Sally set up a looming school as a means to maintain the livelihood of the traditional producers and preserve this historical craft.
Participants, including members of the arts, social work, sport, community work, and culture, represent the unique richness of Indian creativity, as well as Indian social and economic progress. These are stories of resilience as well as of the desire to bring about change in the world.
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