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Shed differences in the name of religion, caste: Kalam

President A P J Abdul Kalam on Tuesday said differences in the name of religion and caste and haves and have-nots should be shed to transform India into a developed nation.

He was giving away the 2001 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development to outstanding humanist Professor Sadako Ogata of Japan.

Kalam said this was the message the people of India got from Prof Ogata's noble and humanitarian contribution.

He congratulated Ogata, a former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, for her achievements in the field of alleviating the pain of millions of refugees all over the world.

He said the care and compassion for the downtrodden and under-privileged, which Prof Ogata has shown in her work was exactly in line with the ideals of late prime minister Indira Gandhi.

"Care and affection for the downtrodden and the under-privileged was always upper most in the mind of Indira Gandhi. By conferring this prize on Prof Ogata, we not only honour an outstanding personality, we also honour a great national leader like Indira Gandhi who had dedicated her whole life to remove poverty, the great polluter of the world," the president said.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his speech referred to the Palestinian and Afghan refugees and said, "We also recognise our moral responsibility to work for the harmonious return of all refugees to their rightful homeland with peace, honour and security."

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