Tale of two women, their laurels

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />NEW DELHI: May 29 turned out to be a red letter day for Indian women. While the author-activist Arundhati Roy bagged the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize, supercop Kiran Bedi received the UN medal for outstanding service.<br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="33.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e0e0e0=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/708066.cms" alt="/photo/708066.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e0e0e0=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Arundhati Roy has received the Sydney Peace Prize</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">While Roy won accolades for peace, Bedi served the cause of peacekeeping.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Arundhati Roy has been blistering in her criticism of the US role in the war against terror."Today, in a world convulsed by violence and unbelievable brutality the lines between ''us'' and ''the terrorists'' have been completely blurred. We don''t have to choose between imperialism and terrorism; we have to choose what form of resistance will rid us of both," she was quoted as saying.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The author of God of Small Things, who won the 1997 Booker Prize for her work, has been an active political and human rights activist.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"Arundhati Roy has been recognized for her courage in campaigns for human rights and for her advocacy of non-violence, as expressed in her demands for justice for the poor, for the victims of communal violence, for the millions displaced by the Narmada dam projects and for her opposition to nuclear weapons," the </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Sydney Morning Herald</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""> quoted the jury''s citation, as saying.</span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />Roy follows the 2003 winner, the Palestinian academic and human rights campaigner Hanan Ashrawi whose selection drew controversy and hostility from sections of the Jewish community.<br /></div> <div align="right" style="position:relative; left: -5"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="right" border="1" width="33.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" d9d9d9=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/708067.cms" alt="/photo/708067.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" d9d9d9=""> <div class="Normal">Kiran Bedi</div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"Arundhati Roy is a distinguished world citizen. She is an outstanding communicator who writes with great clarity and grace. At a time of terrible disregard for human life, we need to hear from citizens like Arundhati Roy," The director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Professor Stuart Rees, said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Arundhati Roy will deliver the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture on November 3.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Kiran Bedi was felicitated along with 22 other military and police officers serving with the UN on Friday.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The medal was pinned by Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations Hedi Annabi at an impressive ceremony where the recipients were dressed in their national uniforms.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Bedi has been with the world body for more than one and half years, overseeing the police component of the expanding peacekeeping operations.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The United Nations observes May 29 as International Day for Peacekeepers. This year, ceremonies were held a day earlier as May 29 falls on a Saturday.</span></div> </div>