India honors Spanish Jesuit missionary posthumously

By Jose Kavi

New Delhi: The Indian government on January 25 honored a deceased Spanish Jesuit missionary with one of the nation´s highest civilian awards.

Father Carlos Gonzalvez Valles, who died November 9, 2020, in Madrid, capital of Spain, is among 102 chosen for Padma Shri (Lotus honored), the fourth highest in the awards.

The posthumous award honors the Jesuit missionary’s contribution to literature and education.

No one has been selected for the Bharat Ratna (Indian Jewel), the highest award, this year. A total of 119 people were selected for the three categories of the civilian awards. Seven people received Padma Vibhushan ((lotus ornated) and 10 the Padma Bhushan (lotus decorated) awards.

Padma Vibhushan awardees this year included Japan’s Shinzo Abe for Padma Vibhushan (Public Affairs) and S P Balasubramaniam, Tamil playback singer, posthumous) and Delhi’s Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for spiritualism,

Padma Bhushan awardees include Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, or K S Chitra, a Malayalam playback singer, Tarun Gogoi, former Assam chief minister (posthumous), Sumitra Mahajan, former Lok Sabha speaker, for public affairs, and Ram Vilas Paswan, a former federal minister (posthumous).

Some Padma Shri awardees are sportswoman P. Anitha from Tamil Nadu, Lakhimi Baruah, a social worker in Assam, Peter Brook of the United Kingdom, Chutni Devi, social worker in Jharkhand, Damodaran Kaithapram, a poet in Kerala, Sanjida Khatun of Bangladesh, Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir (Public Affairs) Bangladesh and Solomon Pappaiah, a journalist from Tamil Nadu.

Father Valles’ death was mourned among others by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Father Vallés endeared himself to many, especially in Gujarat. He distinguished himself in diverse areas such as mathematics and Gujarati literature. He was also passionate about serving society. Saddened by his demise. May his soul rest in peace,” the prime minister, who is a native of Gujarat, tweeted.

The priest, who was popularly known as Father Valles, had turned 95 on November 4, 2020.

The Jesuit priest, who had become an Indian citizen, had contributed a new style of writing in Gujarati and translated many mathematical concepts into that Indian language.

Father Valles had written 78 books containing his essays dealing with life and how to live it.

Father Valles was born in Logrono on November 4, 1925. He joined a Jesuit novitiate when he was 15. He was ordained a priest April 24, 1958.

He came to India in 1949 at the age of 24. He taught Mathematics at St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, during 1960-1982.

The Jesuit savant is known for using short sentences and a conversational style.

In 1999, he created his own website so as to reach out to modern youth.

He left India to settle down in Madrid with his ninety-year-old mother until she died at the age of 101.

Father Vallés had won the literary prize for essays from the Gujarat government five times. He was awarded Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, the highest award in Gujarati literature, in 1978. He was the first foreign recipient of the prize.

The Padma Awards are announced annually on the eve of India’s Republic Day, January 26.

Padma Vibhushan is given for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of higher order and Padma Shri for distinguished service. The awards seek to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

The awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, set up by the prime minister every year.

The history of the awards goes back to 1954 when the government instituted two civilian awards-Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. The second category had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri through a presidential notification on January 8, 1955.