A LITTLE INCIDENT which was mentioned at the end of March has ended more peacefully. Anivar explains why.:

On 27th March 2009, On 27th March 2009, a section of the press carried a news which said Mr. Anvar Sadath, Executive Director, IT@School has received an international award from ODF alliance for his contribution to the ODF. It was surprising for many of us who wondered what his contribution to ODF was. Two days later, some of us received a press release issued by ODF alliance which made it clear that recognition was given to Mr. Anvar for the ODF adoption in schools of Kerala. The press release also had quotes from Mr. Anvar Sadath and Mr. Marino Marcich of ODF alliance.

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However, recent reports in the local media and online forums tried to put this incident in bad light. We want to clarify that the recent reports on the issue in a section of the press attempting to link our opposition to the award as having political connotations is completely misplaced. Our intention, as activists of the Free software movement, is to correct a mistake on the side of the ODF Alliance . We are happy that the Alliance has been open to our criticism and have admitted the flaws in their selection process.

From the discussions attached with this press release, it can be seen that the entire discussion was to correct a mistake. We request not to inappropriately link this incident to other political issues.

We wish to apologise to Mr. Anvar Sadath if unnecessarily negative publicity cropped up; the good news which everyone ought to share is that, regardless of credit, Kerala is the biggest winner and it's all that matters. ODF facilitates choice, long-term retention, and freedom. ⬆