Tag Archives: Baroda Muslim Doctors Association

“Muslim youth need to dream big,” say founders of Misaal initiative

INDIA:

Screenshot of the website Misaal

Misaal is a platform committed to inspire and influence young Indian Muslims by sharing success stories of people from the community who achieved incredible milestones and emerged as pioneers and champions in various fields.

At a time when Covid-19 lockdown forced all of us to stay indoors and positive stories were in short supply, three Muslim youth came up with an initiative called Misaal to highlight success stories from the Muslim community. Three youth Aman Mansuri (25), a consultant at BCG, Amim Fatmi (25), associate manager at TCS and Shaista Khan (25), a venture capital associate who are alumni of India’s premier institutes like IIT Roorkee, IIM Ahmedabad, XLRI Jamshedpur, NIFT Delhi and NIFTEM started Misaal.

Misaal is a platform committed to inspire and influence young Indian Muslims by sharing success stories of people from the community who achieved incredible milestones and emerged as pioneers and champions in various fields.

Aman Mansuri

Misaal in Urdu means ‘a good example.’ We wanted to find out the Misaals of our community and share their experiences to hone the self-confidence of the youths and introduce them to the world of possibilities,” Aman told TwoCircles.net.

The trio acknowledged the privilege they had in getting into institutes of national importance, however, they say that they were perplexed by the lesser ratio of the Muslim students in such institutions. “I had only two female Muslim students as my batchmate,” said Shaista. “If I made it to the list, so can others, and this is what the initiative is about,” she added.

Misaal believes that the first step to achieving something is to dream big.

“Muslim youth need to develop big aspirations and not restrict themselves. Currently, the major focus among the community’s youth is on quick income generation. This, coupled with a widespread lack of awareness about the opportunities leads many to drop out and overall poor education levels,” said Amim.

“While there are many reasons for lack of aspiration, the most important one is the lack of visible role models who can serve as positive examples to the youth,” added Aman.

Amim Fatmi

Aman shared an anecdote wherein the only prominent Muslim figures that his friends knew of were late Indian president Dr A. P. J Abdul Kalam and the first Minister of Education of independent India, Abdul Kalam Azad. “This obliviousness about the contemporary prominent Muslim figures was alarming,” the trio said.

Misaal has posted a total of 14 episodes starting August 16, 2020, to date. Each episode is of 25 – 30 minutes long entailing relatable lived experiences in which successful people from the Muslim community share their inspirational stories. Some of the prominent figures featured on their You Tube channel are Shahrukh Alam, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, Quaiser Khalid, IGP, Maharastra Police, Shabina Akhtar, founder of eNewsroom, Talha Abdul Rahman, an Advocate on Record, Supreme Court, and Dr Mohammad Hussain, founder of Baroda Muslim Doctors Association.

“I am very glad that I was contacted by Misaal to share my story as an inspiration. I am more than happy to contribute in whatever way I can in this endeavour,” commented Parveen Khanam, Assistant Vice President, Genpact, who had shared her story on the platform.

The trio identified the lack of guidance and inspiration among the Muslim youths as a problem and have set out to provide a solution through Misaal. To make a positive difference among their community’s youngsters, they want to create an efficient system working on three levels, “To inspire the Muslim youths by sharing the stories of high-achieving Indian Muslims and to provide mentorship and scholarships, and to upskill them through workshops.”

Shaista Khan

“We are in the initial phase where we are trying to create a fraternity. So far it’s been only a one-way communication but going forward we want to engage on a personal level with our audience and address their needs,” said Aman. “As things start to settle well, we will gain grounds and start conducting mentorship programs and workshops extensively,” added Amim.

The trio believes that educated Muslims can build a progressive society and eventually help build a better and stronger nation. The trio says in unison, “Padhega Muslaman, tab hi badhega Muslaman aur phir badhega Hindustan” (Only an educated Muslim can make for a progressive Muslim community and in turn making a better India).

The Misaal episodes are available to watch on their YouTube channel and they can be approached through other platforms on FacebookInstagram and Twitter.

www.misaal.co.in

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> India News / by Shalini S , TwoCircles.net / March 01st, 2021

Despite risks, Muslim doctors in worst-hit Gujarat offer timely care, support to COVID-19 patients

GUJARAT :

Cured patients with Dr Muhammad Husain’s team

Gujarat:

Muslim medicos in worst-hit Gujarat have been going an extra mile to fulfil their medical-course pledge for helping and curing run-down patients and have proved that not all white-coats are money-grubbing pill-pushers and bone-benders.

On March 1, the state government asked the medical fraternity to gear up for the pandemic and the medics of the minority community rolled up their sleeves to swing into action for serving the sick-as-a-dog patients of the dreaded coronavirus disease.

Even during the holy month of Ramadan and after, Muslim interns and resident doctors of the overcrowded state-run hospitals or physicians of private clinics not only sacrificed their comforts and academic studies but also risked their own lives to save precious lives with the situation worsening day every passing day – as one infected person expired every hour.

Doctors have to wear suffocating PPE suits for several hours.

Wearing suffocating plastic PPE suits for as long as 12 hours, the dedicated doctors in the frontline of the fight against the mysterious pathogen work in frightful COVID centres near infectious patients. And yet, they offer their services and personalized care gratis to all castes for a noble cause, not to mention the fact that some healers have to work without PPE kits, N-95 masks and proper gloves.

Not surprisingly, in Ahmedabad alone, some 200 doctors have tested positive and at least 11 of them have died with their boots on even as Gujarat registered the highest mortality rate of 6.2 per cent in India on June 15.

Besides creating awareness and sensitizing unlettered patients about the viral infection and dealing with uncooperative relatives, the hard-pressed medicos have had to stay away from their dear one’s back home lest the latter get infected by the coronavirus.

Dr Muhammad Husain

Dr Muhammad Husain of Vadodara has been a great inspiration for doctors of his community. As the corona crisis escalated, the local administration was worried stiff after senior doctors washed their hands off the global pandemic and in turn, the juniors had to meet the challenge of treating the patients in municipal hospitals.

But Dr Husain, who is also the chairperson of the Baroda Muslim Doctors’ Association, decided to pick up the gauntlet and presented proposals to set up four up-to-the-minute COVID care centres in Gujarat’s cultural capital. The beleaguered civic body was too happy to give its go-ahead with the result that hundreds of patients recovered in quick succession in fewer days compared to the discharge rate at other state-run facilities, thanks to round-the-clock monitoring by him.

When blood banks in the city ran dry and patients’ relatives running from pillar to post for the vital fluid, Dr Husain went round Muslim mohallas and sought the help of youngsters who, for the first time, donated blood on the day of Eid al-Fitr at a quickly-organized camp where 300 bottles were collected within just a few hours.

Community leader Zuber Gopalani told TwoCircles.net that, “Dr Husain, along with his bleeding-heart doctor friends, has stood on the road under the scorching sun and distributed immunity-boosting tablets bought from his earnings. All this has made him a real corona warrior.”

Dr Muhammed Dohadwala (right)

In Dahod city in central Gujarat, Dr Mohammed Dohadwala, a diabetologist, and his 67-year-old father Dr Kaizar, a senior consultant physician, kept their clinics open during the lockdown to help their regular patients even though most of the private doctors remained inaccessible, fearing the deadly viral infection.

“We decided that the work must go on and formulated a foolproof strategy for the safety of staff and patients, and even devised a video consultation platform in our centre for outstation patients,” he said.

Conscious of their social responsibility in these tough times, the Dohadwalas, with the help of a local NGO, distributed special kits of daily essentials among migrants, workers and other needy families in the city.

Dr Shakeel Vadaliwala (left) in PPE suit (right)

Ahmedabad-based Dr Shakeel Vadaliwala is a neonatologist specializing in the care of newborns but the dutiful doctor was so busy in serving COVID patients that he could not be near his wife when she delivered a baby girl last month. Even though he was away from home during Ramadan, he observed his fast and performed prayers and made do with simple food but he is happy that as many as 400 of the 800 COVID patients under his care at a government hospital were cured and discharged within a week.

Members of Ittehad Medicos’ Academy have not only kept their clinics open but have also been offering free services to COVID-hit men and women at three hospitals in Ahmedabad.

According to Dr Junaid Shaikh, who has a hectic schedule taking daily rounds at all these three care centres, he had to rent a house for several days to keep his family away from infection.

“I also had to use a PPE suit for three or four days because of shortage,” he told TwoCircles.net.

Mona Desai, president of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, said that Muslim doctors like Dr Didar Kapadia, Dr Murtza and Dr Iftekhar and others are doing a yeoman’s service in these tough times but wondered why cases of assaults on doctors by patients’ relatives were on the rise.

Mujahid Nafees, convener of the Minorities Coordination Committee, Gujarat sums up and says, that, “The sacrifices made by Muslim doctors fighting the pandemic are greater than even those of a soldier battling the enemy troops on the border. A soldier can see the enemies but for doctors, the coronavirus is not visible.”

Dr Muhammad Husain (second from right) and Dr Zuber Gopalani (second from left)

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> TCN Positive> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic / June 15th, 2020

Muslim groups lead efforts in fighting COVID-19 lockdown crisis in BJP-ruled Gujarat

GUJARAT :

Babubhai (extreme right, with crutches) distributing ration kits to the differently-abled

Amid the ongoing nationwide battle against COVID-19 and the crisis created by the lockdown, Muslim groups in communally sensitive Gujarat have lent a helping hand to the administration, and aided scores, MAHESH TRIVEDI reports.

Gujarat :

As the coronavirus cases in BJP-ruled Gujarat spiralled to 3,548 and killed 162 people by April 29, the Muslim community of the state and voluntary organizations run by them have been silently lending a helping hand to the beleaguered state administration in fighting the deadly virus.

Muslims constitute 10 per cent of the population in this communally sensitive western Indian state. In spite of being a hard-pressed minority and having faced an anti-Muslim pogrom in 2002, the community has brushed aside its sorry state and in current pandemic has worked to bring relief to poor people of the state.

In Ahmedabad, a voluntary organization Vikalang Sahayak Kendra run by differently-abled Ghulam Murtaza (Babubhai) has not only distributed nearly 500 kits containing rice, sugar, wheat flour, edible oil, etc to widows, slum-dwellers and physically-challenged men and women but also has been providing meals once a day to homeless, besides guiding them on personal hygiene during the pandemic.

“It won’t be possible to give succour to the have-nots without financial assistance from generous donors from both Hindu and Muslim communities like Shankar Patel, Talha Sareshwala, Hanif Memon, Mohsin Memon, Akhtar Malik, Raju Patel, Ankur Patel, Ankit Patel, etc,” Babubhai told TwoCircles.net.      

Medical check-up in a BMDA medical van

Other Muslims organizations like School of Education Campus, Chhipa Samast Jamaat, Anjuman-e-Saifee Jamaat, Qaswa Charitable Trust (Bhuj), etc have distributed hundreds of food and grains packets to needy in the ongoing lockdown.

At one of India’s largest Muslim ghetto on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in Juhapura, housing nearly 400,000 people, Muslim youth belonging to Ahmed Shah Army, an NGO took it upon themselves to sanitizing 30,000-odd houses.

Besides sanitizing the houses, the Muslim youth did not hesitate in providing free hair cuts to beggars – at least 180 of them, who had been lodged in a hostel by local authorities in Valsad in south Gujarat. The Muslim youth from the NGO also handed over two pairs of clothes to the beggar community.

Zuber Gopalani (extreme left) and BMDA members gifting PPE kits to a municipal doctor

In Vadodara, the citizens remember a benevolent Muslim auto driver Ali Hussain Udawala, who has been ferrying passengers to hospital during the lockdown without charging any fare.

Riddhi Soni, a 28-year-old visually-challenged college teacher at Rajpipla in south Gujarat, lives alone in the staff quarters and could not go back to her parents in Ahmedabad because of the shutdown. It was her neighbour and colleague Numa Ansari (26) who has come to her aid in the current lockdown.

Soni told TwoCircles.net that Ansari has always remained at her beck and call, sanitized her room, bought essentials for her, and took care of her.

With the shortage of isolation units in municipal-run hospitals in Ahmedabad to house the increasing number of suspected cases of COVID-19, Issa Foundation, which has already been running community kitchens, offered its three buildings as quarantine facilities with 1,200 beds and also offered to bear food expenses of patients and medicos.

In Baroda, where the services provided by the 300-member Baroda Muslim Doctors’ Association (BMDA), headed by chairperson Dr Muhammed Husain is earning them laurels.

BMDA chief Muhammed Husain prescribing medicines to a senior citizen

Ever since the government enforced the lockdown, BMDA has organized free medical camps, launched blood donation campaigns, and joined hands with the Vadodara municipal corporation in preventive and curative interventions to boost its anti-virus drive.

Husain told TwoCircles.net that 150 dedicated doctors of the association have been risking their lives by conducting door-to-door surveillance in COVID-hit areas declared as ‘danger zones’ in the cultural city.

Ever since BMDA was set up in 2012, the association, besides organizing events for medicos, has also been carrying out a number of social activities for the underprivileged to bring the marginalized into the mainstream.

BMDA has done this by promoting academic scholars, helping high-school drop-outs to join skill-based learning, starting reading rooms in slums and semi slums, free malnutrition check-ups and so on.

According to Zuber Gopalani, famed social activist and educationist, BMDA’s biggest achievement came recently when an expert group from the federal government lauded the invaluable services rendered by the doctors and paramedics of the association at an ideal COVID-care centre at the Ebrahim Bawany ITI Hostel in Vadodara.

“BMDA medicos threw their full heart and soul into this COVID care centre while working with the civic body’s health team, regularly examining the patients’ blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature, etc and monitored their hygiene and sanitation. The result was that for the first time in India as many as 45 COVID-19 patients were completely cured within 10 days and discharged together from one single care centre”, Gopalani said.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic / by Mahesh Trivedi for Twocircles.net / April 30th, 2020