GUWAHATI, Sept 25 - The sixth Yamin Hazarika Woman of Substance Award for the year 2020 was conferred on historian and author Rana Safvi on Wednesday.
The chief guest on the occasion was Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Editor of the The Hindu, while the guest of honour was Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, DGP, Assam Police.
The event, held online, was moderated by Tinat Atifa Masood. Rana Safvi is a passionate believer in India�s Ganga jamuni tehzeeb (syncretic culture), which she documents through her writings, podcasts and videos.
In 2011, she started the Twitter forum #shair which popularized Urdu online. It is a unique platform which is going strong with over 20,000 members.
She has published seven books so far on culture, history and monuments of India. These are Tales from the Quran and Hadith, the Delhi Trilogy: Where Stones Speak, The Forgotten Cities of Delhi and Shahjahanabad the Living City of Old Delhi. She has translated both the editions of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan�s seminal work on Delhi � Asar us Sanadid, Dastan e Ghadar and four accounts of the 19th and the 20th century Delhi from Urdu to English.�
She is also a regular contributor to various national newspapers and magazines. Her blog�ranasafvi.com�is a repository of cultural, literary and historical heritage.
The chief guest, Suhasini Haidar, said that Yamin Hazarika epitomized integration in a country as diverse as India. �The fact that she was from the Northeast and that she made a name for herself in the centre is a celebration of diversity and the value of integration.�
The award is presented every year by a collective of women professionals in memory of the first woman from the Northeast to join the Central Police Services, Yamin Hazarika, who was DCP Delhi Police. The award recognizes and celebrates women who have made a notable contribution to the greater good of society.
Yamin Hazarika was the first woman from Northeast India to be selected for the NCT of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), a federal police service in India, administering Delhi and the Union Territories in 1977.
Hazarika succumbed to cancer in the year 1999, but her great legacy lives on, inspiring millions, especially women, in the law enforcement sector. The awardees for the previous years include author Indrani Raimedhi, athlete Tayabun Nisha, actress Moloya Goswami, environmental activist Purnima Devi Barman and social activist Hasina Kharbhih.
