The two players, who are also known as Indo-Pak Express
were given the award in the presence of Crown Prince of Monaco Thursday night
for their role in promoting peaceful relations between India and Pakistan.
The two have been playing together as a doubles team on
the ATP circuit in 2010 and to convey their message of peace, they have been
sporting the slogan 'Stop War, Start Tennis'.
"Their commitment to promoting peace between the two
countries and their conviction that peace was possible was shown amply during
the year. In the US Open tournament they managed to bring together the
ambassadors of India and Pakistan to support the same team," says the
citation of the award which was handed out in a ceremony with numerous stars from
the world of sports.
Handing the award, Joel Bouzou, president and founder of
Peace and Sport Foundation, requested the governments of India and Pakistan to
support the project of Bopanna and Qureshi to organize a symbolic tennis match
at the Wagah border check post. "The sport is ready for peace. Will the
two governments rise to the occasion?" he asked.
The evening saw five other awards being handed out. These
included the award for a peace project of an international sporting federation,
which was shared by world football body FIFA and IFNA (International Federation
of Netball Associations).
IFNA got the award for its program 'Goal', which helps
young women to become independent in India. FIFA got the award for it
initiative Football for Hope, which reinforces programs around the world on
subjects as diverse as education, health, building peace and reconciliation.
The award for the Sporting Event of the Year went to
'Rumble In Cartagena' — an event of rugby in wheelchairs, which was organized
during the Summit for a World Free of Anti-personnel Mines.
The award for sports NGO for peace was given to the Peres
Center, which has mounted about 10 projects favoring socio-economic cooperation
and cross-border interactions between the Palestinian and Israeli people.
The award for Socially Responsible Company of the year
was bagged by sports wears major Puma, which organized thousands of charitable
football matches around the world to promote peace, donation of sporting
equipment.
And the special prize of the Jury went to "Out of
the Ashes", a film based on the emergence of the Afghanistan cricket team,
which originated in the refugees camps in Pakistan and went on to participate
in the Cricket World Cup.
The
Peace and Sports Awards were inaugurated in 2008 and are given by the eponymous
organization which in apolitical and neutral.
