The World Human Rights Protection Commission (WHRPC) has awarded the prestigious honorary doctorate and membership to veteran Indian journalist Ghazanfar Ali Khan based on his outstanding contribution to journalism and social work during the last 30 years. This recognition is in appreciation of his unparalelled contributions to the community, specifically in the domains of journalism, social work, and human rights, particularly during the challenging period of COVID-19.
In its citation, the WHRPC said: “The evaluation board of the World Human Rights Protection Commission have conferred on Dr Ghazanfar Ali Khan the Doctorate in Media and Social Work (honoris causa) with all rights and privileges.” Khan has been working in mainstream Saudi media for the last 29 years. Currently, he has been working as a freelancer for a few major Saudi and foreign media outlets, including Foreign Policy News (an American news portal), and Indianewsstream.com (a major news portal of India).
Khan worked for 25 years as Bureau Chief of Arab News, the largest English daily in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. He has written and published about 25,000 reports, news stories, and features in different publications. As their senior business consultant, Khan is also associated with the Riyadh-based Big City Solutions Company for Business Services. A resident of Darauli village of Siwan district in north India, Khan is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Speaking on this occasion, Khan said: “”I feel really proud and happy for receiving the honoris causa from the World Human Rights Protection Commission. At this moment, I must thank my parents, the late Abdul Hamid Khan and late Koraisha Khatoon, and my friends who supported me from the early days; without them, this wouldn’t be possible.” “Coming from academia and journalism, I know what it means to be awarded an honorary doctorate,” he added.
According to a profile released on this occasion, Khan has written and published about 25,000 reports, news stories, and features in different publications, including ‘Arab News’, ‘The Diplomat’ (A journal published by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs), ‘Ahlan Wasahlan’ (Inflight Magazine of Saudi Arabian Airlines), ‘The Hindustan Times’, a daily newspaper published from India; and ‘The Nation and the World’, an Indian magazine beside a few other media outlets.
He has reported widely on politics, development, security, entertainment, aviation, and humanitarian issues from Saudi Arabia, India, the UK, Italy, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Nepal, Bahrain, Switzerland, Sweden, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the UAE, China, Malaysia, Bahrain, and Germany. He was awarded “Saudi Arabia’s Arab News Best Reporter Award” in 1995, and the European Union Familiarization Certificate in 2009. He was also a member of the jury for several journalism awards, including the Samir Foundation Award in Lebanon a couple of years back.
The World Human Rights Protection Commission (WHRPC) is recognized by the government of India and the government of the United States, the State of New York. The WHRPC serves as an Indian non-profit organization that confers honorary doctorate degrees on celebrities and outstanding achievers. The World Human Rights Protection Commission, India, was established by an Act of Parliament under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1882, to protect and promote human rights.
