John Dayal, a veteran journalist-turned human rights activist, was among three people chosen on March 5 for fighting for the cause of civil liberties and religious freedom. The annual Quaide Milleth Award, established in 2015, is given by the Che-nnai-based Quaide Milleth Educa-tional and Social Trust involved in the advancement of underprivileged sections of society. Church of South India Bishop V Devasahayam of Thoothukudi-Nazareth was in the four-member jury that chose also Navid Hamid and Vipin Kumar Tripathi for this year’s award. Dayal, based in New Delhi, has served as the treasurer of the Editors’ Guild of India and a member of the National Integration Council. The 76-year-old Catholic was the secretary general of the All India Christian Council and president of the All India Catholic Association, the largest association of the Catholic laity in the country. Hamid also was a member of the National Integration Council, formed in 1961 as a group of senior politi-cians and public figures in India to help the federal government address communalism, casteism and regiona-lism and problems. He is a former president of the All India Majilise Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organizations, and general secretary of Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians.