By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Shillong Chamber Choir (SCC) added another feather to its cap when it was presented its first-ever humanitarian award at the 5th Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice in Mumbai on Wednesday.
It was an overwhelming moment for members of the Shillong Chamber Choir when it was presented the award in recognition for promoting national integration through music.
Previous recipients of this prestigious award have included Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama, Ms Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare, Sayed Iqbal Haide, Oscar Fernandez and The Kripa Foundation, to name a few.
This year, the award was presented to 10 awardees which included Dr. Sima Samar, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan and Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Ms. Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, a teenage activist who was shot in the neck and head by Taliban militants, Kuldip Nayar, NDTV, and the Indian Cancer Society, besides the SCC.
“It is indeed an honour for the Choir as being representatives of the North East to have received this award as recognition for the note worthy initiatives and the impact of art as a means to bridging the wounded gaps,” the SCC said in a statement issued here on Thursday.
The award was given by the Harmony Foundation, founded in 2005 by Dr. Abraham Mathai, to establish communal harmony between various communities, castes and work towards the benefit of all the communities without any discrimination as to religion, caste, creed, gender or region.
The patrons of the Foundation include Tushar Gandhi, Mahesh Bhatt and former Indian Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat.