Rakesh Sharma, the director of "Final Solution", a documentary on the Gujarat riots, has been honoured with the Freedom of Expression Award by the Britain-based Index on Censorship magazine.

Other winners included Greek whistleblower Grigoris Lazos; US legal campaign group the Centre for Constitutional Rights; Daniel Bergner, author of "Soldiers of Light", and Bangladeshi journalist Sumi Khan.

The awards honour the contribution of writers, filmmakers, journalists, whistleblowers and lawyers to the defence of freedom of expression worldwide, a statement by the organisation said.

"It is no coincidence that most of the nominations in the film category deal with the politics of hate and intolerance. Post 9/11, we live in a world where such politics has gained mainstream acceptance, even grabbed centre-stage. In a world where it has become legitimate to use fictitious intelligence to justify the bombing of innocents in Iraq, where it has become acceptable to kill a journalist with precision bombs and rockets, where elections are won on agendas of hate, as journalists and filmmakers, we face a challenge greater than ever before. I salute the spirit that takes on mighty corporations and cabals, the state and its repressive branches and continue to be inspired by those who have exhibited extraordinary and exemplary commitment to truth," Sharma said in his acceptance speech.

"Final Solution" was banned in India by the Censor Board for several months. The ban was lifted after a sustained campaign. Sharma also conducted private screenings in people's homes to beat the ban on public screenings. The documentary was subsequently cleared last year by the government.

The film has won over a dozen international awards and has been screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide. The film bagged the Wolfgang Staudte Award (Best film at the International Forum for New Cinema) and Special Jury Award (Netpac), Berlin International Film Fest (2004), Montgolfiere d'Or for Best Documentary and Le Prix Fip/Pil' du Public - (Audience Award) were some of the prizes bagged by the documentary.

Index on Censorship is one of the world's leading repositories of original, challenging, controversial and intelligent writing on free expression issues. It continues to log free expression abuses in scores of countries worldwide in its Index Index section.