Besides Rukhsana, who had shown exemplary courage to take on a militant commander who barged into her house in Rajouri, her brother Aijaz Ahmed also received the award.
Other awardees included singers Shameema Azad, wife of Union Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, Raj Begum, historian Fida Hasnain, noted actor Pran Kishore, poet Rehman Rahi, Director, Doordarshan Srinagar, Rafeeq Masoodi, journalists Sumir Kaul (PTI), M K Bangroo (former PTI correspondent), Nidhi Razdan (NDTV), Masood Hussain (Economic Times), Arun Joshi (Hindustan Times) and Saleem Pandit (Times of India). The awards were presented for the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was present at the function held for the first time since the inception of the awards four years ago.
The award distribution ceremony had to be postponed for three consecutive years due to summer unrest in the Valley.
Assembly Elections 2021 | Catch all the news updates here
Deccan Herald News now on Telegram - Click here to subscribe
'Cops, enforce lockdown, but don’t be inhuman'
DH Toon | Need to put our house in order: Sonia Gandhi
Hindu-majority village in UP elects Muslim pradhan
Tokyo gives a glimpse of Covid-era Olympics
Bamboo cricket bats better than the traditional willow?
Researchers build tools to counter AI’s privacy threat
A glance at Assam's last five chief ministers