National Film Awards: Dalit girl's story of hope 'Justice Delayed But Delivered' bags top honour

New Delhi: The 68th National Film Awards were announced on Friday and many powerful performances were appreciated at the prestigious ceremony. The long list of winners was announced via a press conference in New Delhi, South superstar Suriya shared the Best Actor award with Ajay Devgn for Soorarai Pottru (Tamil) and Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (Hindi) respectively.

In the Non-Feature Films category, Best Film on Social Issues went to Justice Delayed But Delivered (Hindi) and Three Sisters (Bengali). Justice Delayed...is the story of Dalit Radhika Gill's struggle and hope in Jammu Kashmir. The 15-minute documentary is based on the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. 

Who is Radhika Gill?

Justice Delayed But Delivered* A Film by @JammuKashmirNow
Here is the story of Dalit Radhika Gill's struggle & hope in Jammu Kashmir. How did she, her Valmiki Community & Women get justice after Abrogation of #Art370.#Watch Full Documentary here https://t.co/kvrfHxP5E1 pic.twitter.com/WPkfKmw9r2

— Jammu-Kashmir Now (@JammuKashmirNow) August 2, 2020

Radhika Gill, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir hails from the of Valmiki community. She had challenged the constitutional validity of Article 35-A along with two others that gave privileges to only permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and did injustice to non-permanent residents of J&K.

Radhika is an athlete and was a rank holder in Shot Put and 100-meter Race in the 14th State Athletic Championship of JK. Due to Article 35 A, she could not apply for government employment opportunities in the state. The Valmiki community has been in Jammu since 1957 but was denied a 'Permanent Resident Certificate' due to which Radhika could not pursue her dreams. 

Challenging the denial, Radhika filed a Writ Petition in Supreme Court against Article 35A and Sec.6 of the J&K Constitution. Article 370 and 35A were revoked by the government on August 5, 2019. 

National Award-winning film Justice Delayed But Delivered is directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh.