Murtaza Ali Shah
National Order of Merit is given to people who have distinguished merits in exercise of public, civil or military function or of private activity for at least 10 years
The French government has given Asma Ashraf the National Order of Merit which is the second national order after the Legion of Honour.-Photo by author
The French government has given Asma Ashraf the National Order of Merit which is the second national order after the Legion of Honour. -Photo by author
LONDON: A woman of Pakistani origin has received France’s prestigious National Order of Merit for her services in areas of education and social welfare for French society.
The French government has given Asma Ashraf the National Order of Merit which is the second national order after the Legion of Honour. This award is given to people who have distinguished merits in the exercise of public, civil or military function or of private activity for at least 10 years.
Speaking to The News, Ashraf said she is honoured to have received this medal which is recognition of the hard work she has been employing over the years. She said: “I see this honourable recognition as a testament of the values I stand for and I hope to encourage others to carry forward this legacy. I have a lot of projects in mind, and I am looking forward to being able to deliver them.”
She said the French government has recognised her in her capacity as Director and Founder of Femme Relais Médiatrice nterculturelle de Champigny (FRM C) which provides counselling and solutions to intercultural women.
Indian fake news busted amid Khalistan voting in UK
Merely a fortnight after Indian media’s reports alleging that London Metropolitan Police had cracked down and shut the Khalistan Referendum Voting by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), yet another voting event for Khalistan Referendum took place in Slough, London.
Around 10,000 British Sikhs attended the Gurdwara Ramgarhia at Woodland Avenue Slough to vote for Khalistan Referendum. Slough is a heavily Sikh populated neighbourhood and thousands of Sikhs from the neighbourhood lined up since early morning to vote in the referendum which continued till 5pm.
Indian media in a coordinated campaign ran fake news three weeks ago that Scotland Yard had raided SFJ’s London office and recovered fake machines and papers and that a Pakistani man had been arrested too but the London police immediately clarified that no raid had taken place and no arrest was made. It turned out that Indian media had aired fake news to dissuade the British Sikhs from taking part in the voting process and relied on fake news.
Earlier on December 10th, more than 6000 people showed up to vote in Geneva, Switzerland to kickstart the European Phase of Khalistan Referendum. According to Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), the organizers of Khalistan Referendum, voting in Slough was organized on the request of Sikh community members from Slough who approached the Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC) – the independent panel of election experts supervising and overseeing the Khalistan Referendum – asking for setting up of the polling station in the neighbourhood to give an opportunity to the Sikhs of the area who could not vote so far.
