Did 8-year-old Licypriya Kangujam's father fake awards to bolster his daughter's achievements?

She was in the limelight for leading a climate change movement

FPJ Web Desk Updated: Monday, March 09, 2020, 08:37 PM IST
World Youth Conference 2019/ Facebook

World Youth Conference 2019/ Facebook

Licypriya Kangujam, the 8-year-old environmental activist from Manipur, became news after she turned down PM Modi's offer to be part of the #SheInspiresUs initiative for Women's Day.

She was in the limelight for leading a climate change movement. Earlier, she had lashed out at the government and the opposition for not fullfiling her demands of passing the Climate Change Law.

Apparently, she is the daughter of Dr Kangujam Karnajit, a self-proclaimed youth leader from Manipur and had been arrested in 2015 on the charges of fraud, assault and breach of trust.

An investigation of this case in May 2015 showed that Kangujam had conned the state and foreign dignitaries by using the UNESCO flag on his car.

He had allegedly duped foreign delegates by promising travel allowances reimbursement, collected funds for the Nepal earthquake, and also tried to implicate a cabinet minister who had sexual harassment charges against him.

Now, he has allegedly changed his name and uses Dr KK Singh officially.

She was also in the news for being invited to speak at a UN session and was conferred with several awards for her climate change movement. Investigations into this revealed that it was a farce and all her achievements were fake.

Journalists and activists have also alleged that the awards that she has been conferred with were given out by the organisations her father was associated.

Earlier, in April 2019, the International Youth Committee, chaired by Licypriya's father had said in a press release that she had been invited to address a session on 'Disaster Risk Reduction' at the UN. However, an investigation found out that she was not invited to speak at the event but attended it.

Well, this is not it. Later, in September 2019, news of Licypriya being conferred with World Children Peace Price 2019 by Global Peace Index also made rounds.

The Global Peace Index, however, clarified on Twitter and said that they did not confer her with the award. "Our Director of Partnerships Charles Allen was asked to present the award which was conferred by the event organisers," tweeted Global Peace Index in response to Journalist Kumar Manish's query.

They added, " We do not issue awards, and do not have an award program in place."

However, Licypriya has denied all claims against her.

In July 2019, she was conferred with the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Children Award by Khwaab Foundation headed by Munna Kumar was the convener at her father's organisation.

On September 28, 2019, Licypriya was also conferred with India Peace Price 2019 by International Youth Committee which is her father's organisation. The logo can be seen in the pictures but Licypriya has denied all allegations against her.

Singh, however, denied all claims and said that "How can I ask other to invite her?" He said that people invited her for her work and were not doing at his behest, reported ThePrint.

Speaking to ThePrint, Singh said, "Imphal Free Press has worked to tarnish my image for some years and now they are targeting my daughter."

International Youth Committee's website says that Singh is the founder of World Youth Conference, Global youth Meet, World Youth Summit, South Asian Youth Summit, Africa Youth Forum, Asia-Pacific Youth Forum, World Youth General Assembly, World Youth Prize, Global Youth Award, South Asian Youth Award, etc.

Published on: Monday, March 09, 2020, 08:19 PM IST

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