Category Archives: Community Involvement / Social Issues

Sadaqt Ashram, Patna : Mazharul Haque’s gift to the Nation

July 12, 2020Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Freedom Fighters (under research project), Leadersmpositiveone@gmail.com

Patna, BIHAR :

Attitude of the British government towards India after the First World War, where the Indians backed the British war efforts in hope of better treatment, exacerbated the already suppressed Indian feelings. The Rowlatt bill, satyagraha in its opposition, Jallianwala massacre, and brutal suppression of the satyagraha led Mahatma Gandhi to call for Non-Cooperation movement coupled with Khilafat movement.

Gandhi urged his followers, through Young India, on 11 August, 1920, to ‘formulate an education system completely independent of government control’. Only then, in his view, non-cooperation holds any real meaning.

Mazharul Haque was the first in Bihar to respond to Gandhi’s call of developing indigenous education system. On 22 November, 1920 Haque opened a National School in Patna with Dr. Harnandan Lal Nandkeoliyar as its principal. But, the moment of glory was yet to arrive.

On 11 December, 1920, One Hundred & Ten (110) students of Bihar Engineering School (B.E.S) boycotted classes and with all their belongings, with raised flags of ‘Free B.E.S’ marched to Sikandar Manzil, residence of Mazharul Haque, at Fraser Road in Patna. Students urged Haque to lead them into the non-cooperation movement. Haque left his house with 103 students, since seven (7) were taken by their parents to home, for an orchard in a rather scantily populated area on Patna- Danapur road. The orchard was a property of Khairu Mian, who donated it to the students without any hesitation. Haque, with the help of the students, made huts with straws, woods and leaves. The orchard, where now 103 students and Mazharul Haque were living, was named Sadaqat Ashram.

Sadaqt is a Persian/ Urdu word for truth while Ashram is a Sanskrit/ Hindi word for Abode. So, the place was Abode of Truth.

Now all the residents of Ashram were studying and spinning Charkha (cotton spinning wheel) and the ashram became a focal point of nationalist activities in Bihar.

Mahatma Gandhi, in December, emphasised upon having a Bihar Vidyapith to oversee all the nationalist education and coordinate National Schools running in Patna. Dr. Rajendra Prasad and other Congress leaders were unable to raise enough funds to secure land for Vidyapith in Patna. When the difficulty was put in front of Haque, he immediately started construction of a building, with his personal funds, at the Ashram site.

On 6 February, 1921, Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and Mohammad Ali arrived in Patna, by Punjab Mail, to formally inaugurate the Bihar Vidyapith (Bihar University). At the inauguration Gandhi said that without the efforts of Mazharul Haque it would have been impossible to open a National College at Patna. It was only because of Haque that Gandhi was inaugurating the Vidyapith.

Mazharul Haque was chosen as the Chancellor, Braj Kishore Prasad as the Vice Chancellor and Rajendra Prasad as the registrar of the newly formed Bihar Vidyapith.

Sadaqat Ashram did not stop at this. In September, 1921, Mazharul Haque started printing newspapers, journals and books from the Ashram. An English weekly The Motherland and an Urdu daily Sheristan were two prominent newspapers published from the Ashram. Apart from these, books like Tufan-e-Nuh, Khilafat and England, etc., were also published from the Ashram press.

Mazharul Haque set an example by renouncing his lavish lifestyle to live in Sadaqat Ashram with the students. Mahatma Gandhi wrote about Haque, “The Sadaqat Ashram near Patna is a fruit of his (Mazharul Haque’s) constructive labour. Though he did not live in it for as long as he had intended, his conception of the Ashram made it possible for the Bihar Vidyapith to find a permanent habitation. It may yet prove a cement to bind the two communities together.”

Later, Rajendra Prasad lived at Sadaqat Ashram after retirement, Jayprakash Narain launched his movement from here and presently it serves as the Bihar Congress headquarters.

With the Sadaqat Ashram, the legacy of Mazharul Haque remains alive.

(Author is a well known historian)

source: http://www.heritagetimes.in / Heritage Times / Home> Bihar / by Saquib Salim / July 08th, 2020

Mosque near Mumbai serves as free Oxygen centre for COVID Patients

July 10, 2020Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiersmpositiveone@gmail.com

MAHARASHTRA :

Bhiwandi (Thane):

In a unique initiative, a mosque in Bhiwandi town in the suburbs of Mumbai has been converted to a makeshift facility providing oxygen free-of-cost to those diagnosed with COVID-19.

The facility was set up by the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Movement for Peace and Justice as well as Shanti Nagar Trust at Makkah Masjid in Shanti Nagar area in East Bhiwandi, which has recently seen a spike in COVID cases. The facility currently has five beds with oxygen cylinders attached with them to assist the patients facing difficulty in breathing. Additionally, JIH has also started a free-of-cost service to provide oxygen cylinders to patients at their homes.

Bhiwandi-Nizampur area has recently recorded an acute surge in Coronavirus outbreak with more than 1,332 positive cases and 88 deaths. It also has one of the highest mortality rates of 5.26% across the state. The sudden rise in infectious disease has put a strain on the city’s healthcare system, which lacks adequate treatment and quarantine facilities for the patients. The local civic body has imposed a lockdown in the entire town till July 3.

“Bhiwandi-Nizampur has been hit the hardest by Coronavirus. It’s a very congested city, resulting in the rapid spread of the disease. As it is, the city has a poor health infrastructure, and now even several general practitioners have shut their clinics due to fear of infection. A vast majority of people in the city lack awareness about the disease and are unable to afford treatment. Hence, we decided to start this facility to do our bit in these trying circumstances,” said Ausaf Ahmed Falahi, president, JIH Bhiwandi.

So far more than 70 patients have benefited from this facility, while an additional eight patients have been provided 15 cylinders at their homes. People from all the religions and caste have been availing the facility.

“Khidmat-e-khalq (Service to humanity) is one of the basic tenets of Islam. A mosque is not merely a place of worship. Rather, its’s supposed to be a community centre working for the welfare of the people living in its vicinity. Makkah Masjid was shut to the worshippers and was lying idle due to the pandemic and the lockdown. Hence, we decided to use some of the premises of the mosque to help those who can’t avail treatment facilities elsewhere,” said Qaiser Mirza of Shanti Nagar Trust, which runs the mosque. (PR by Jamaat-e- Islami, Hind , Maharashtra)/

source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / June 25th, 2020′

Helping Hand Foundation launches COVID emergency care services in Hyderabad

July 9, 2020Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, FREE : Healthcare / Assistance, Useful / HEALTHCAREHelping Hands Foundation, Mujtaba Askari - Founder & Trustee - Helping Hand Foundation, Mujtaba Hasan Askarimpositiveone@gmail.com

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Helping Hand Foundation has stepped up with its services during the pandemic.

Hyderabad:

City-based NGO Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) has launched two different packages with the aim to provide COVID-19 emergency care services. The NGO introduced two packages which include free oxygen supplies, testing, and free transportation for patients.

Here are the details about the packages

PACKAGE 1: Free Oxygen supplies and Testing

– Free Supply at the doorstep of 65 Kgs of oxygen cylinders, with pulse oximeters for medically prescribed for suspected and positive cases under home isolation care (Free refilling with no security deposit)

– All patients on Oxygen therapy will be medically supervised and monitored by a competent team of doctors online along with round the clock command and control centre.

– Patients will be provided the inflammatory markers test free of cost.

– RT-PCR (SARS-COV2) at Rs 1500/- every Monday & Thursday in collaboration with Lepra (Blue Peter) ICMR Lab

– This can be done only by appointment and you may call: 8897867726/8977898706 for the above services

PACKAGE 2: Free Patient Transportation in Emergencies

– Ambulance services fitted with Oxygen/Drop to and from Hospitals and only in containment zones from 6 pm to 12 am
You may call: 9603540864/9490810914

– Apart from these services the HHF is for any coronaemergency in providing assistance are available at OGH (6pm – 12am) daily chest Hospital, Erragada (9 am to 1 pm), District Hospital, King Koti (Shortly).

– For pregnant women who are facing difficulty in seeking treatment, our services are available at, Govt Maternity, Petlaburj, Govt Community Center, Barkas, Govt M.N. Area hospital, Malakpet. Services are also available at ENT, Koti, MNJ cancer Hospital & NIMs.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Mohammad Hussain / July 08th, 2020

Seema Mustafa’s book on Shaheen Bagh to be released on July 15

July 5, 2020Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social IssuesBook - Shaheen Bagh and the Idea of India - Author - Seema Mustafa, Mustafa Quraishi, Nazes Afroz, Nizam Pasha, Sana Sikander, Seema Mustafa, Seema Mustafa - Print and TV Journalist, Seemi Pasha, Shaheen Bagh, Shaheen Bagh and the Idea of India, Sharik Laliwala, Zoya Hasanmpositiveone@gmail.com

NEW DELHI :

New Delhi:

The first comprehensive book on one of the most important civil rights movements in the history of Independent India.

On 15 December 2019, police in riot gear stormed Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University and attacked unarmed students protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which makes religion a factor in the process of granting Indian citizenship. In neighbouring Shaheen Bagh, mothers and other relatives and friends of the students came out into the streets in outrage and anguish.

They sat on a main road demanding repeal of the CAA, which, twinned with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), could make Indian Muslims aliens in their own homeland. Within days, similar protests broke out across the country. Free India had never seen anything like it.

Shaheen Bagh and the Idea of India examines how the sit-in by a small group of Muslim women—many of whom had stepped out of their homes alone for the first time—united millions of Indians of different faiths and ideologies in defence of the principles of liberty, equality and secularism enshrined in our Constitution.

It also throws up many important questions: Can the Shaheen Bagh protests reverse the damage done to our democracy in recent years? How did the non-violent movement sustain itself despite vilification, threats and persecution by the establishment? Is this movement the beginning of new solidarities in our society? Will it survive the aftermath of the communal violence that devastated northeast Delhi in February 2020, and the witch-hunt that was launched under cover of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

This necessary collection comprises interviews with some of the brave women at the core of the protests; ground reports and photographs by journalists like Seema Mustafa, Seemi Pasha, Nazes Afroz and Mustafa Quraishi; and essays by thinkers, writers, lawyers and activists, including Nayantara Sahgal, Harsh Mander, Subhashini Ali, Nandita Haksar, Zoya Hasan, Apoorvanand, Enakshi Ganguly, Sharik Laliwala and Nizam Pasha. It is a book that must be read by everyone who cares about India’s democracy and its future.

About the Editor:

Seema Mustafa has been a journalist since the age of nineteen. She has worked in or written for a number of major Indian newspapers—including The Patriot, The Pioneer, The Indian Express, The Telegraph, Economic Times and Asian Age—and travelled across the globe on assignments. She also worked for a couple of years as the National Affairs Editor for the News X television channel. She has covered conflict in Assam, Punjab and Kashmir; communal violence in different states of India; and was the first Indian journalist to cover the first war in Beirut. She is presently the Founder-Editor of The Citizen, an online initiative.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News / by Sana Sikander / July 05th, 2020

Kerala families benefit from expat businessman’s largesse

July 1, 2020Community Involvement / Social Issues, FREE : Accomodation, NRI's / PIO'sAhammed Iqbal, Ahammed Iqbal - Businessman - Doha - Qatar, K T Jaleel, K t Jaleel - Kerala Higher Education Minister, Shafeeq Alingalmpositiveone@gmail.com

Karad Village (Malappuram District) , KERALA / Doha, QATAR :

Some of the houses constructed on land donated by Iqbal.

It was a day of immense joy and fulfillment for Qatar-based Indian businessman Ahammed Iqbal who donated 1.5 acres of land in his native place to build houses for 15 families left homeless by floods last year.

Karad, a village in Malappuram district of the southern state of Kerala, Sunday witnessed a function where the families received the keys to their new homes.

“The smiles of gratitude gave me a feeling of delight. I am glad that I could uplift some flood victims from despair to happiness,” Iqbal told Gulf Times.

After the land was handed over to the district administration, the 15 houses were built with funds contributed by M P Ramachandran, chairman of Mumbai-based Jyothy Laboratories Ltd.

Iqbal recalled that the district administration had received several applications from many families whose houses were washed away in the deluge. The beneficiaries were selected after scrutiny and drawing lots.

Most of the beneficiaries came from Kavalappara village that was wiped out by a massive landslide and flash floods on the night of August 8 last year.
The natural calamity claimed 48 lives while leaving hundreds homeless.

Iqbal, who was in Qatar during the deluge, approached the Kerala district administration expressing his readiness to extend a helping hand to the victims.

On behalf of Iqbal, his friend Mujeebu Rahman handed over the documents to the district administration.

“I simply wanted to do my part for the victims and stand with my people during the tough times. I have sufficient land and my religion allows me to take only three pieces of cloth when I depart,” he said, adding that his parents very often inspire him to help landless people.

Kerala’s Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel and magician Gopinath Muthukad handed over the keys to the beneficiaries.

source: http://www.gulf-times.com / Gulf Times / Home / by Shafeeq Alingal / June 28th, 2020

Laptop proves a lifesaver

June 28, 2020Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of SoldiersMohammed Noor Alam, Nasiruddin Ansari, Sadekul Islammpositiveone@gmail.com

Muraroi (Birbhum), WEST BENGAL :

He has helped over 7,000 workers return home in Birbhum and over a lakh stranded workers get food

IT professional Sadekul Islam (in front of the laptop, wearing a mask) and his friends at work in Birbhum’s Muraroi / Telegraph picture

Armed with a laptop and a mobile hotspot, an IT professional from Birbhum claims to have helped over one lakh migrant workers during the Covid-19-induced lockdown.

Sadekul Islam, 28, who works in an IT firm in Calcutta, had to return home in Birbhum’s Muraroi during the lockdown.

With help from friends Mohammed Noor Alam and Nasiruddin Ansari in Muraroi, Sadekul set up a network of contacts — mainly phone numbers and email ids of government officials — on his laptop that he said helped over 7,000 workers return home in Birbhum and over a lakh stranded workers get food.

Sadekul said the idea of forming a database of officials came to him when he saw villagers thronging post offices and Aadhaar centres last year in the wake of the amended citizenship law to rectify their documents. “I thought it would be simpler if people knew whom to contact,” he said. His expanding database of officials proved helpful when Covid-19 struck.

From April, Sadekul and his friends started identifying stranded workers from their area and contacting government officials for help.

Sadekul said his contacts ranged from the “panchayat to the PMO”. “The system works,” he said. “Kerala officials were the most helpful.”

Worker Saribul Sheikh, home in Muraroi, said Sadekul arranged food for him and four others when they were “virtually starving in Chennai”.

Muraroi is located along the Birbhum-Murshidabad-Jharkhand border. Many youths work as construction labourers and masons in states such as Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

“We liaised with officials in Bengal as well as in states where we knew youths from Muraroi were stranded. We gathered information on other places where youths were stranded with insufficient food and contacted officials there,” he said. “Fortunately, it worked out well for everyone.”

Minakshi Bhattacharya, a PhD research scholar from Santiniketan’s Visva-Bharati, was so impressed by Sadekul’s “ingenuity” that she contacted him this week for a study of his initiative.

Sadekul added that times had changed. “One can contact the whole world sitting at home. Only thing is one needs to know whom to call.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / TheTelegraph, online edition / Home> West Bengal / by Snehamoy Chakraborty in Bolpur (Birbhum) / June 26th, 2020

Foundation donates ₹10 cr to PM Cares Fund

June 27, 2020Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Karnataka (under research project), Science & TechnologyDr Majeed Foundation, Dr Majeed Foundation - Bengaluru - Karnataka, Muhammed Majeed, Muhammed Majeed - Founder & Chairiman - Sami Sabinsa Group, Sami-Sabinsa Group - Bengaluru - Karnatakampositiveone@gmail.com

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

The Bengaluru-based Dr. Majeed Foundation, a non-profit institution has contributed ₹10 crore to PM CARES Fund, to help combat the widespread outbreak of COVID-19, according to a press release. The Foundation was set up by Muhammed Majeed, Founder and Chairman of Sami-Sabinsa Group.

It contributed ₹2 crore to the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority.

The Foundation has been actively supporting people in distress, by ramping up its community outreach programmes to reach out to the poor and vulnerable communities. It helped those who have been most affected by the pandemic in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and provided them with essential food items, protective equipment, hand sanitizers and health supplements.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> State> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – June 19th, 2020

Pune: Azam Campus Mosque to be used as a quarantine centre for Coronavirus patients

June 26, 2020Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Education, FREE : FoodAzam Campus Mosque Pune, Dr P A Inamdar, Dr P A Inamdar - President - Haji Gulam Mohammed Azam Educational Trust, Dr PA Inamdar, Haji Gulam Mohammed Azam Educational Trustmpositiveone@gmail.com

Pune, MAHARASHTRA :

Pune :

The Azam campus masjid, which is one of the biggest in Pune, will be used as quarantine centre for Coronavirus COVID19 patients. The management of the mosque and Pune district administration has joined hands for the same.

Given the increasing prevalence of corona infection in the central suburbs of Pune, the management had indicated its readiness to hand over the premises of the Azam campus located in Camp area, which is adjacent to Bhavani Peth, Nana Peth, where most of the patients have been detected, to the administration for quarantine of suspected patients.

Dr PA Inamdar, president of Haji Gulam Mohammed Azam Education Trust, “After getting approval from the administration, we started preparation and have readied the floor. We will also provide food to people housed at the mosque. Corona is an international crisis and as a responsible citizen, we are ready to fulfil our duty as an organization in the government’s efforts to address it. It is time to lend our resources to the government.”

The management of Azam Campus had indicated its readiness to provide 9,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the place of worship with all electricity, fans, toilets and parking facilities. In a letter to the district collector, Inamdar said that he was ready to provide breakfast, meals, to the police and government officials as well as the patients.

There are 30 educational institutions of Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education (MCE) society in Azam Campus and it is spread over 24 acres. One of them already has a mosque. The first floor of the mosque has a 9,000-square-foot hall-like floor. It can be converted into a quarantine ward. Schools and colleges in the educational buildings here are currently closed. The management is proposing to provide more space when needed, informed Dr Inamdar.

At present, 25 doctors of Unani Medical College on the campus and their five ambulances are serving patients in the central (Peth) areas of Pune. Also, Azam Campus has so far distributed groceries worth over Rs 25 lakh to the needy. Dr Inamdar has also appealed Muslims to perform prayers (namaz) at home without going to mosques during the holy month of Ramadan (Ramzan).

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, all establishment including schools, colleges, shops, offices etc are closed across the country. Only essential commodities shops are allowed to function. In Pune, the number of Coronavirus positive patients has reached 800 and 56 of them have died while 122 have been cured till now.

source: http://www.punekarnews.in / Punekar News / Home> Pune / April 23rd, 2020

Mammootty’s channel and Indian expat group offer free chartered flights from UAE to Kerala

June 23, 2020Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Travel & Tourism, World OpinionE M Ahsraf - Kairali TV Middle East Director, E M Ashraf, Kairali TV, Majida Farsana, Mammootty - Kerala Film Star, Mammootty - Malayalam Super Star, Mammooty - Chairman - Kairali TV, Mammotty, N K Kunhammed, Nafeesa Kutty, Sahira Beevimpositiveone@gmail.com

KERALA :

First free community chartered flights benefit 395 Indians stranded in UAE due to COVID-19

Dubai:

For the first time, two free community chartered flights repatriated 395 stranded Indians in the UAE to their hometowns in Kerala today.

While one flight was organised by Malayalam TV channel Kairali TV, under the leadership of its chairman superstar Mammootty, the other one was sponsored by the community group Overseas Malayali Association (Orma).

Kairali TV flew 215 stranded Malayalis home on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram at 6pm today, said E.M. Ashraf, the channel’s Middle East director for news and programmes. “Under the COVID-19 relief programme Kaikorthu Kairali, we had announced 1,000 free flight tickets to Keralites stranded in the Gulf countries. While we had given away some tickets to deserving candidates, we decided to also charter some flights from the UAE,” he told Gulf News on Sunday morning.

At least four free chartered flights are being planned for repatriation from the UAE with the contribution of several community members, businessmen and actors apart from Mammootty.

“We have also received the support from community groups in the UAE such as the Indian Social Centre in Ajman and MAS in Sharjah for organising today’s flight,” said Ashraf.

He said the channel had invited applications from the most deserving members of the community and a committee shortlisted the passengers from stranded visit visa holders, those who lost jobs, elderly patients and the like.

First from Dubai

While several community organisations in the UAE have chartered flights to repatriate stranded Indians, with some offering free tickets and subsidised fares, the first free chartered flight for repatriation by any Indian community group was the one arranged by Orma from Dubai to Kannur on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, a GoAir flight flew home 180 stranded Malayalis hailing from various districts of Kerala, said N.K. Kunhammed, a coordinator of the flight and a delegate of the Loka Kerala Sabha (LKS), a global body of expatriate Malayalis.

He said priority was given to stranded labourers, part-time maids, visit visa holders, pregnant women and families in distress.

Rajan Mahe, an invitee of LKS, who also coordinated the flight, said the group had been trying to arrange free chartered flights for some weeks under the initiative ‘Fly with Orma Care’.

“With the support of the Indian Consulate in Dubai, and the offices of the Kerala chief minister and Assembly speaker, we finally managed to make all the arrangements,” Mahe added.

He said the state government would facilitate the transportation of the repatriated passengers to their respective districts once they land in Kannur International Airport.

“We have arranged dinner for them through the Kannur local administration. If there are people who need further help to reach home from there, we will arrange that also,” he added.

Vipul, the Consul General of India in Dubai, appreciated the charity initiatives.

“I understand that both of these are free chartered flights that will be of great help to the community, especially in this hard economic times due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Vipul said, appreciating the efforts of all those who had contributed to sponsor the tickets for distressed Indians.

Distressed passengers express gratitude

Distressed and stranded Indians who got a chance to fly home for free on Sunday’s chartered flights expressed their gratitude towards those who had organised these flights.

Sahira Beevi, who had come to Dubai after her son had fractured his leg, following a fall at a worksite, was among the stranded visit visa holders who were were being flown home by Orma.

“I struggled a lot because my son had already lost his job and was facing Dh30,000 in overstay fines. I had approached many associations for help. It was one Ansari and Orma members who helped us,” she told Gulf News.

“I am thankful to Orma for sending me home. I hope they will help repatriate my son also. He will be able to fly only when his condition improves a bit. He will try for repatriation along with my niece, who had also lost her job and came back on visit visa.”

She also thanked Emirates Companies House for presenting her a ‘Gulf Gift Box’ containing goodies that the company was gifting to returning expatriates.

Two other passengers on the same flight were Nafeesa Kutty and her daughter-in-law Majida Farsana, who had come on visit visas five months ago.

“She came looking for a job and I tagged along. But we didn’t expect the situation to change so fast. She didn’t get any job and my son’s salary was cut. Finally, we have to go back like this. We are thankful to Orma for helping us fly home for free,” she said.’

Gineesh Oliyil and colleagues / Image Credit: Supplied

Gineesh Oliyil, an employee of a four-star hotel in Sharjah, and six of his colleagues who have been left unpaid for three months, were among the lucky passengers on the Kairali flight.

“We served people quarantined in the hotel for a month. But, the hotel was shut in April and we have not been paid since then. We were only provided two meals per day.”

He said the members of MAS Sharjah supported them with food kits and also helped them register for the free chartered flight arranged by Kairali TV.

“We somehow wanted to reach home in these uncertain circumstances. We are grateful to MAS Sharjah and Kairali TV for helping us. The free chartered flight is a great initiative that is benefitting many distressed people like us. This is the first time we are hearing about such an initiative and I hope they will fly home more distressed people, including our remaining colleagues.”

Another passenger on the same flight was Saravanan K.H. He said he was hospitalised for a month after he had a fall in the washroom of his labour accommodation.

“Doctors said my brain was affected due to the head injury and I needed help to move around. It was Shameer from my native place who helped me after I got discharged, at a time when nobody dared take care of a patient.”

He said he had approached many groups to fly home for further treatment and physiotherapy. “Finally, Shameer managed to register me on the Kairali flight and their help has come as a big boon for me,” said Saravanan.

source: http://www.gulfnews.com / Gulf News / Home> UAE / by Sajila Saseendran, Senior Reporter / June 21st, 2020