Recognition of Dr Amitabh Mitra’s Work in Trauma, Violence and Sexual Assault for more than thirty years in the black township of Mdantsane, the second biggest after Soweto.
Nomination of Dr Amitabh Mitra for a Padma Shri award for his contribtion to the medical and cultural tapestry of South African Society
Dr Mitra has been residing and working in South Africa for decades.
He practices as an orthopaedic surgeon at the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, South Africa. This is an area inhabited by some of South Africa’s most poverty stricken communities. His services in this hospital is highly appreciated by the local population.
But in addition to his medical services he has also excelled in writing poetry and has compiled several books. He encourages local artists and in particular women poets to write and he has helped many relatively unknown artist to receive recognition by publishing their poetry.
His work gained recognition when he was chosen to represent South Africa at the World Literature Festival in Oslo in 2008.
On 30 November 2022 Dr Mitra received the South African Police Services Excellence Award in the Easter Cape Province in Port Elizabeth for his watercolour painting on handmade paper. His paintings and poetry have been published and recorded.
Above all else Dr Mitra has been able to use art to create a bond across racial lines in South Africa. He has brought poets of various races together in his many anthologies published and acclaimed by academics in South Africa.
For his work especially in South Africa I nominate him for a Padma Shri award.
Sincerely
Ela Gandhi
NB:
- Dr Mitra is the only Indian from India who has been practicing since last 30 Years in Mdantsane, the second biggest black township after Soweto, day and night as a Trauma Surgeon and in the Gender Based Violence Sector.
- Due to his activism, he has successfully brought 2800 double life Sentences by producing evidences against rapists and serial rapists in Eastern Cape.
- He was awarded the Police Excellence Award by the South African
Police Service and made the Ambassador to the Provincial Police
Commissioner in November
More about Dr Amitabh Mitra —–