Hyderabad-based
social activist Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi has been honoured with the
Commonwealth Points of Light award for his ‘Hunger Has No Religion’ campaign
that feeds 1,500 people every day.

The Commonwealth
Points of Light award recognises outstanding individuals ‘who are making a
change in their community’.

It was back in the
year 2011 when Maqsusi began his campaign by giving food to a frail old woman
near the Dabeerpura Flyover in Hyderabad. He had a conversation with her and
found out she had had nothing to eat.

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“Her name was
Lakshmi. She was old and hungry. That very day, I decided to start Hunger Has
No Religion, and began arranging meals under the Dabeerpura flyover for those
who could not afford it,” Maqsusi told The Hindu.  

“Later, we scaled
up, and after a few years we began serving meals near Gandhi Hospital,” he
added.

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Maqsusi’s
initiative, The Sani Welfare Foundation, has now reached Bengaluru and Raichur
in Karnataka, Cuttack in Odisha and Goalpara in Assam.

A few years ago,
Maqsusi started the ‘Do Roti’ campaign. He called upon people to carry two rotis
with them whenever they left home and give to the hungry. The campaign was
aimed at discouraging children from begging.

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“Azhar’s
contribution to society is incredible and has meant the difference between a
meal or no meal for millions. There are many similar missions of selfless sacrifice
and service, some emerging as a result of the pandemic, but the powerful Hunger
Has No Religion has run for 8 years,” the Points of Light website quotes British
Deputy High Commissioner in Hyderabad, Andrew Fleming as saying.

Maqsusi was four
years old when his mother passed away. His mother raised him and three of his siblings.
At the tender age of 10, he quit studies and took odd jobs to support his
family. He set up a plaster of Paris unit in 2001 which is his only source of
income.