Mir Jafar Awards

The Mir Jafar Awards are spoof awards awarded by the Dalal Foundation, a coalition of activist groups against environmental and human rights violations corporate crime and state repression in India.

These awards are presented to individuals who, in the foundation's opinion, commit or abet such activity, in particular politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats. The awards are presented to individuals wearing masks representing the awardees, as the real ones are usually disinclined to attend the satirical ceremony.

The name

The Mir Jafar Awards are named after Mir Jafar, the 18th Century Nawab of Bengal, India, who conspired with the British East India Company to overthrow Siraj-ud-Daulah. (See Mir Jafar#The overthrow of Siraj-Ud-Daulah.) The foundation compares the awardees' use of neoliberal policy and capitalism to Mir Jafar's conspiracy.

Individual awards are also named sarcastically and satirically, and may vary from year to year.

Criteria

The awards are not based on any objective criteria, but are meant to highlight issues given importance by the foundation and the roles of the awardees in these issues. All implications and exposes are supported by evidence recovered by the activists.

Awards so far

The first awards ceremony was held at New Delhi on 11 August 2007. The key organisations involved were the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal and the Other Media, New Delhi. The ceremony drew attention to the ongoing controversy over the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and violence in Nandigram and Singur.

List of awards for 2007

1. Best Environmental Talk the Talk Award: Ashok Punjwani
2. Birds of a Feather Award: Mukesh Ambani
3. Bureaucrat for Business Award: B.K. Chaturvedi
4. Money Can Buy You Law Award: T.K.A Nair
5. Best Diplomat for Welfare of Transnational Corporations: Ronen Sen
6. The World is a Business Award: P. Chidambaram
7. Best Use of an Inside-Outside Strategy: Abhishek Manu Singhvi
8. Lifetime Spent Evolving Opportunities from Disasters: Babulal Gaur
9. Extraordinary Contributions to the Progress of International Capital: Kamal Nath
10. Best Use of the Revolving Door: Montek Singh Ahluwalia
11. Best Friend of Big Business: Manmohan Singh
12. Dynastic Loyalty to the Empire: Ratan Tata

External links

• Citations of the Mir Jafar Awards 2007
• Tribune, Chandigarh coverage of the Award Ceremony 2007
• The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal