Harmony Foundation to host Mother Teresa awards on Nov 9

The Harmony Foundation will be hosting the seventh annual Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice on November 9, 2014. The foundation will honour ten persons who have worked to make a positive difference in the lives of others. It is the only award which is officially endorsed by the Missionaries of Charity, the organisation started by Mother Teresa. DNA is the media partner for the event.

Speaking about the initiative, Dr Abraham Mathai, the president of Harmony, an NGO that promotes communal and social harmony, said, "Society today needs peace, tolerance, equality and social justice. Considering this, we have decided to recognise proponents of peace, equality and social justice to encourage virtues of peace and urge the society at large to imbibe these values, tying in with the legacy of Mother Teresa who vested a lifetime of selfless service in the cause of the classless, cashless and casteless of our society."

Stressing the fact that the society needs to get its act together, Dr Mathai said that a policy of zero tolerance is needed to ensure that perpetrators of such crimes are tried for their actions.

"The day our society realises that the greatest responsibility we have is to be the voice for the voiceless is the day we will achieve a society where a smile will be adorned on every face," he said. His organisation has partnered with the International Justice Mission (IJM) in its endeavour of honouring those who have fought against bonded labour and sex trafficking.

"We are happy to partner with Harmony Foundation and the Missionaries of Charity to honour those who fight for justice on behalf of that vast but invisible India which pays the hidden cost of building incredible India," said Ajoy Varghese, director of IJM in Delhi. "Over one crore people are victims of sex and labour trafficking in our country and many of Sunday's awardees have played a critical role in changing our society and our public justice system in order to combat this crime," he said.

In the past, the Mother Teresa Award has been conferred on several individuals who have worked for the betterment of society. The latest recipient of the award was Sam Childers, better known as the Machine Gun Preacher, and also has a Hollywood movie with that name made on him.

Previous recipients of the award include the Dalai Lama, Dr Sima Samar, former deputy prime minister of Afghanistan, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, Baroness Caroline Cox, deputy speaker of the House of Lords and Malala Yousafzai, who won this year's Nobel peace prize.

Among the national awardees are Sindutai Sapkal, Sudha Murthy, actress Sushmita Sen, Arunachalam Murugantham, Saeeda Diep, Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy, Indian Rescue Mission, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare, Tata Consultancy Services for its work against illiteracy.