HYDERABAD: In a display of interfaith solidarity, Chilkur Balaji temple head priest CS Rangarajan on Monday participated in a blood donation drive organised by the Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), a healthcare NGO, on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi at Masjid-E-Muhammed Hussain, Rajendranagar.
The drive was organised to collect blood for children being treated for cancer at the MNJ Cancer Hospital. Children with cancer, mostly with acute leukemia need regular transfusions while undergoing chemotherapy, the NGO said.
As per data from MNJ Cancer Hospital, nearly 100 units of blood are required in the hospital daily, where nearly 2,500 major and 4,000 minor surgeries are performed annually.
HHF and the temple have been working for the last five years in promoting interfaith dialogue, communal harmony and peace at a time when increasing polarisation between the majority Hindu community and the principal minority community is frosty and at its lowest ebb, a release from the NGO said.
Rangarajan and HHF founder Mujtaba Hussain Askari are batchmates from OU and reconnected with each other while helping a Dalit woman who was in need of hearing aids. HHF sponsored the hearing aids in 2019.