Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who was to receive the special honor of the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier Dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) on Wednesday, requested the French government to postpone the award ceremony scheduled in the Delhi later in the evening in wake of the serial bomb blast in Mumbai. The award ceremony was cancelled last minute.
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters is the second biggest award in France and Ash was to receive the award from French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont on the eve of the National Day of France. Aishwarya's appearance at the award ceremony was highly anticipated.
Aishwarya condemns Mumbai blasts; postpones French Award ceremonyAishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan made an appearance at the Taj Palace in Delhi around 9 pm, accompanied by Jerome Bonnafont, the French ambassador to India, and Farooq Abdullah. Aishwarya said, "We are very shocked and saddened by this incident... And keeping in mind what's happened, we didn't deem it prudent to celebrate. My family and I felt it would be prudent to request that the ceremony be postponed, and we thank the French government for understanding our sentiments in the current situation."
Talking about the blasts in Mumbai Ash said, "We are very shocked with the news of the blast. Our prayers are with the people affected. It is important for us Indians to stand strong and tell the perpetrators of terrorism that they cannot shake us. We believe that justice will be done. We pray for the victims and their families."
Jerome Bonnafont also expressed his condolence to the victims while condemning the ghastly act. Respecting the sentiments of the people of India, he had decided to postpone the ceremony to a later date.
This was the second time Aishwarya couldn't accept this award. She was to be conferred back in 2008 but she could not receive it then owing to her father's illness.
Other Indian celebrities, who have been conferred with the honour in the past, include Sharmila Tagore, Habib Tanveer, Shah Rukh Khan, Raghu Rai, Upamanyu Chatterjee and Nandita Das.
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