London, June 11: Leader of the third largest political party in Britain has said that the NRI award conferred on him by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the Bhartiya Parvasi Divas was greater than the 'Order of the British Empire' (OBE) bestowed on him by the British Queen. "The honour bestowed by the Indian Prime Minister was greater than the honour given by the Queen," Navnit Dholakia, president of the Liberal Democrats, said at a reception hosted in his honour by the World Punjabi Organisation last evening.
"Lord Dholakia richly deserved the award for his unique achievement of being the first Asian to be elected as president of the liberal democratic party, one of the oldest political parties of the UK and for his service to the Asian community", Keith Vaz, MP and former minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said
"Lord Dholakia has emerged as a shining star for the Indian community here despite his humble background," APS Chawla, president of the World Punjab Organisation (UK) said.
Recalling his recent visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Lord Dholakia said: "I went there as a Gujarati but came back as a proud Sikh. For the first time, I discovered inner peace which I had never experienced in my life." Bureau Report