Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is considered Asia’s highest honour. Karnataka-born Bezwada Wilson, a prolific campaigner for eradication of manual scavenging in India, and Carnatic singer T M Krishna from Chennai, were on Wednesday chosen for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016. In the 1990s, he was president of the Youth Association for Classical Music, that took Carnatic music to the youth and the public schools. “While grateful for how Carnatic music has shaped his artistry, Krishna would question the social basis of his art. 50-year-old Wilson, born into a Dalit family involved in manual scavenging in Kolar Gold Fields township in Karnataka, was the first in his family to pursue a higher education.

Source: Hindustan Times July 27, 2016 06:33 UTC