The Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA), an advocacy group, announced the winners of their annual awards for excellence in service to humanity.

The awards will be presented at the annual convention on Aug. 7 in Chicago. Dr. Shaik Ubaid, president of the organization, listed the 2004 recipients.

n Maulana Muhammad Ali Jowhar Award in Journalism, for best in-depth coverage of Indian Diaspora in the U.S., to Jerome McDonnell and Andrea Wenzel from ‘Worldview’ on Chicago Public Radio.

n Bahadur Shah Zafar Award, for promoting pluralism and community harmony in India to, Sri Kumar Poddar, Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment based in Michigan.

n Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award in Humanitarian Work, for selfless service towards the uplift of the poor and the oppressed classes in India to Dr. A.R. Nakadar, former president of the American Federation of Muslims of Indian origin based in Michigan.

n Altaf Hussain Hali Award in Humanitarian Work, for selfless service towards the uplift of Muslims in India to Kaleem Kawaja, former president of Association of Indian Muslims, based in Maryland.

n Tipu Sultan Award, for courageously serving India and India’s interests, to Prabhudoss John, executive director for the Policy Institute for Religion and State at Washington D.C.

The recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award for excellence in education has yet to be announced. .

With the theme of the convention being, ‘Indian Muslims: Past, Present and Future,’ prominent scholars, historians, journalists etc. plan to focus on past contributions of the society while securing future plans.

(Compiled from news dispatches by

Priyanka Mehra)