Female positive patients getting treated at the centre on Sunday / Times of India
Vadodara :
For so long, since the time of the pandemic outbreak, this mosque in Godhra, the second biggest in town had been offering prayers for Covid-19 patients. However, it has now taken its services a step ahead and turned the place of worship into a care centre for all positive patients.
What’s more, its healing touch does not discriminate against patients by their religion or social status! Opened last week, this facility is now facilitating treatment to nine positive patients from different communities.
The ground floor of Aadam mosque on Sheikh Majaawar Road, which was designed to accommodate female haj pilgrims, has now been converted into a designated Covid-19 care centre. The decision by the mosque’s managing trust was inspired by the rise in the number of cases in the region.
“Godhra Muslim Samaj, our maulvis and group of Muslim doctors got together and decided to offer the hall on the ground floor as Covid-19 treatment centre. We sought permission from the district collector and chief district health officer for a 50-bed facility, and after they allowed a 32-bed one, we started the facility on July 11,” said Dr Anwar Kachba. “Of these 32 beds, 16 are for patients to be kept in isolation while the other 16 are for positive patients,” Kachba added.
In the past too, the mosque had wanted to set up a similar facility for chikungunya cases, but failed.
“We had bought hospital furniture from a hospital in Ahmedabad which was closing down. This is helping us offer treatment to all,” said Abdul Kadir Hayaat, mosque’s managing trustee.
“Whatever we do not have is being supplied by the Godhra civil hospital,” said Hayaat, adding that the civil hospital is also looking after the medical treatment of the patients here. So far 11 suspected patients who tested negative have been discharged from this facility.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News>City News> Vadodara News / by Jay Pachchigar, TNN / July 20th, 2020
(www.indiadailynews.com / India Daily News / July 20th, 2020 – source: TOI )
After all those days of hate, there was redemption for Tablighi Jamaat in the end. Some say it was in keeping with what Quran teaches.
Nearly 4,000, including foreigners, had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi (representational image) | Photo : Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s seminal work, Death and Dying, describes the five distinct stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. While the Swiss-American psychiatrist was speaking about the series of emotions terminally ill patients go through, the first of the five stages that she postulated possibly holds true for a section of India’s people when the country was trying to come to terms with COVID-19 in the initial days of the pandemic.
The spread of the virus in the early months had then exposed the country’s second-largest religious group to a vulnerability born out of denial. Indiscretion and reckless behaviour by members of the Tablighi Jamaat had purportedly led to a spurt in coronavirus-positive cases, not only in Delhi but also in many other parts of the country.
An international gathering of Tablighis — preachers or a society to spread the faith —had taken place in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in March 2020, drawing hundreds of foreign nationals from Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan. Despite a government order prohibiting large gatherings, more than 4,500 people had assembled at the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz (headquarters).
Media reports had quoted government sources as saying that since 1 January 2020, over 2,000 foreigners from 70 countries had arrived in India to participate in Jamaat activities. As the Covid-19 lockdown came into force on 25 March 2020, over 1,000 were left stranded in Nizamuddin.
Within days, a state of panic had set in as reports of Covid-19 deaths and positive cases started coming in from various parts of the country. By early April, private television news channels had begun insisting that over 30 per cent of the corona-positive cases had the “Tablighi Virus.”
Political factors were at play too. The country was already in ferment over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
The Tablighis’ state of alleged ignorance was dubbed a “Himalayan” blunder as a heavy dose of media onslaught, Islamophobia and blame game followed. As Najmul Hoda, a Chennai-based IPS officer, lamented on his Facebook wall, Covid-19 looked like a common cold in comparison to the plague of communal hatred.
Tablighi virus, Corona Jihad, stories of discrimination, Quran, divine injunction, Muslim society, deadly virus, Covid-19, Muslim clergy, Indian Muslims, social distancing, community prayers, letter of appreciation.
Political factors were at play too. The country was already in ferment over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Shaheen Bagh and its women protesters were making international headlines and the February 2020 riots in Delhi had deepened the sectarian divide, exacerbating religious tensions. It was in this situation that the Tablighi Jamaat held its congregation. According to data shared by Equality Labs (a digital human rights group) with TIME magazine, the hashtag ‘Corona Jihad’ appeared nearly 300,000 times.
The online attack became more and more vicious as reports of people leaving for different parts of the country from the Markaz poured in. For days, “Tablighi virus” and “Corona Jihad” trended on Twitter. Our entire focus shifted from fighting and containing COVID-19 to fighting the Tablighis and the Muslims, who the general population started equating as one and the same. Those were the initial days of our COVID-stricken lives, unsure of what awaited us and we were quick to blame the Markaz for all our misery.
The usual practice of portraying Muslims as the other came into play, as did indulging in victimhood.
In the midst of this Islamophobic onslaught, many articles and tweets expressed fears of a Muslim apartheid. The usual practice of portraying Muslims as the other came into play, as did indulging in victimhood.
“Social media, as ever, remained truculent and toxic. Generally speaking, Muslims continue to use social media space to indulge in their victimhood addiction,” observed Najmul Hoda.
While the community needed to address the elephant in the room and could not be absolved of its responsibility for wrongful acts by the Tablighis, the polarised discourse that was unleashed in mainstream media impacted the psyche of the general population. Most Muslims came out against the Jamaat, but the entire community was still clubbed together and labelled the “Superspreader”.
But the way the Tablighi Jamaat’s role and, by extension, of the entire Muslim population’s involvement in the spread of the virus was covered by the mainstream media, it suddenly felt that Covid-19 had a religion.
The Tablighis were guilty for sure for the congregation of thousands of people despite the prohibitory orders, and of not reporting cases, but the wave of hatred failed to see that the Tablighi Jamaat is not the sole representative of India’s 170 million Muslims and its actions should not be linked with the larger community. It is also pertinent to note that the Tablighi Jamaat preaches a narrow interpretation of Islam to some sections of Muslim society.
But the way the Tablighi Jamaat’s role and, by extension, of the entire Muslim population’s involvement in the spread of the virus was covered by the mainstream media, it suddenly felt that COVID-19 had a religion.
Soon, stories of discrimination against the poorer sections among Muslims started coming out. NDTV reported how vendors in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh were allegedly targeted and stopped from selling vegetables by people who accused them of being members of the Tablighi Jamaat and of spreading the coronavirus.
Old sociological problems, such as overcrowded ghettos, lack of hygiene and low levels of awareness, became handy tools again to stigmatise the community.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, Suresh Tiwari, warned people against buying vegetables from Muslims. The defiant leader was later asked to explain his comment by his party chief.
A video shared widely on Facebook and on Twitter purportedly showed Muslims intentionally sneezing on each other. It was later debunked by the fact-checking website AltNews.
Tablighi virus, Corona Jihad, stories of discrimination, Quran, divine injunction, Muslim society, deadly virus, Covid-19, Muslim clergy, Indian Muslims, social distancing, community prayers, letter of appreciation
Several video clips purportedly showing COVID-positive members of the Tablighi Jamaat misbehaving with hospital staff and other patients found space on prime-time debates. Old sociological problems, such as overcrowded ghettos, lack of hygiene and low levels of awareness, became handy tools again to stigmatise the community.
The reaction from the community was at times defiant, while some took to social media to counter the hate being peddled with tweets that were either equally toxic or full of self-pity.
A closer look at the role the Muslim clergy played reveals a far more constructive engagement than what has been projected by the mainstream media.
It was at this point that the Muslim clergy, intellectuals and other community leaders stepped in. On 2 April, seven signatories — Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Chairman, Delhi Minorities Commission; Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, President, Maulana Azad University, Jodhpur; Prof. Mohsin Usmani Nadwi, President, Human Welfare Society; Prof. A.R. Kidwai, Director, K.A. Nizami Center for Quranic studies, AMU; Masoom Moradabadi, Secretary, All India Urdu Editors Conference; Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Managing Editor, Daily Siasat, Hyderabad, and Prof. Iqtedar Mohd. Khan, Deptt. Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi — issued an appeal to the government to take into consideration the “genuine constraints faced by certain people.” They argued that it was not a time to find fault. “Any attempt to give it a sectarian twist would weaken our battle against the deadly virus,” they said.
A closer look at the role the Muslim clergy played reveals a far more constructive engagement than what has been projected by the mainstream media. As early as 6 March, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahli, Lucknow-based Imam, Eidgah, had asked mosque-going Muslims to take preventive measures against Covid-19, and told them to avoid congregations and coughing and sneezing in public.
Firangimahli was among many religious heads across the country who issued fatwas saying that the fight against the coronavirus was a religious obligation.
A broad consensus that was worked out decided against special Eid prayers at Eidgahs and at mosques, etc. Islamic seminaries, such as the Darul Uloom, Nadwa and Deoband, issued fatwas asking the faithful to offer Eid prayers at home.
A major challenge came during the month-long period of Ramadan — that began in the last week of April — in terms of enforcing social distancing and avoiding guests at the breaking of fast (iftar) and at community prayers (tarahwih), etc. But enforcing a sense of discipline among 170 million people sharply divided on sectarian and linguistic lines was done with remarkable ease and voluntary compliance.
As Ramadan is closely followed by Eid, suspension of the customary Eid prayer posed another hurdle. However, a broad consensus that was worked out decided against special Eid prayers at Eidgahs (where special Eid prayers are held) and at mosques, etc. Islamic seminaries, such as the Darul Uloom, Nadwa and Deoband, issued fatwas asking the faithful to offer Eid prayers at home.
The results were so good that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called up Firangimahli in Lucknow and congratulated him, saying that Eid prayers throughout the state had been observed without any incident of the virus spreading. The state government also issued a letter of appreciation.
Those members of the Tablighi Jamaat who had tested positive for the virus, and have since been cured, came forward in huge numbers to donate their blood plasma — containing anti-viral antibodies — and helped cure many affected people.
Eid ul-Fitr 2020 saw the largest ever participation of women in family prayers. That prompted Najmul Huda, the IPS officer, to say “thanks” to the virus for bringing gender equality to every Muslim home. “May it get institutionalised. Corona, I can’t really say thank you to you, but it’s thanks to you,” he wrote .
There were other positives too. Charity acted as a great succor as appeals were issued to channelise Ramadan and Eid shopping for the needy. Maulana Naeem Ur Rahman Siddiqui, secretary of the Islamic Centre of India, claims that zakat — or charity — saw a rise of over 50 per cent as compared to the previous year.
Not to forget, the redemption and acknowledgement that came after all those days of hate. If the members of the Tablighi Jamaat were guilty of ignorance in the initial phase of the pandemic, they turned adversity they had wrought upon themselves into opportunity in the form of penance. Those who had tested positive for the virus, and have since been cured, came forward in huge numbers to donate their blood plasma — containing anti-viral antibodies — and helped cure many affected people.
Some say it was in keeping with what the Quran teaches — that divine injunction is not for returning evil with good, but with the best. It says: “Good and evil are not equal. Repel (evil) with what is best, and you will see that the one you had mutual enmity with, will become the closest of friends.” (41:34)
Rasheed Kidwai is Visiting Fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He tracks politics and governance in India. Naghma is Senior Fellow at ORF. She tracks India’s neighbourhood — Pakistan and China — alongside other geopolitical developments in the region. Views are personal.
This article was first published by ORF.
source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Opinion / by Rasheed Kidwai and Naghma Sahar / July 12th, 2020
A city-level task force of medical experts, philanthropists, social activists and Medical College Alumnus Association has been set up to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The task force monitored by Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail, Chairman of Sakina Foundation and President of Telangana Parents Association For Child Rights and Safety. This force also includes a group of 25 national and international organisations, Doctors Association and doctors from other countries like Dr. Aslam of America whose roots are in Hyderabad. They have come together on a single platform to combat coronavirus.
This programme has been named as ‘Hyderabad COVID Task Force.’
Member of Hyderabad COVID Task Force, Mohd Asif Hussain Sohail said, “The idea of setting up the task force was conceptualised seeing the pain and sufferings of the Hyderabadis for medical treatment, ration and food especially funerals. The Task Force aims to serve the people who are facing difficulties during the pandemic. Hyderabad Covid Task Force is going to conduct awareness on Covid-19 pandemic in colonies particularly in the city’s slums. They will provide aid to COVID-19 patients for the medical treatment, food for patients and their attendants in hospitals. It will also help the family also organise final rides, land for the burial, final ablution and even for the other community people of the deceased persons died to COVID-19,” Asif Hussain told Siasat.com.
As a large number of people in the city are also being suffering from a viral fever which has created panic among them and they are going for COVID-19 tests. In this situation the Hyderabad COVID Task Force team is undertaking the awareness programmes, counselling for corona patients, checking peoples’ medical need and etc. in each locality with volunteers and also providing online consultations with doctors and giving a medication,” said Asif Sohail.
“Each organisation had at least 50 volunteers who are working in various parts of city. Under this, the Sakina foundation is working on a pilot project which identifies the poor and needy people, their health issues and helps them with food, medication, and funerals for their deceased ones,” he added
He also said that he is also supplying free Oxygen cylinders with Pulse oximeters for suspected carriers and positive cases under home isolation care by providing PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) among the deceased members during the funeral.
The organisation remains connected through a zoom call with Dr. Aslam from USA, who initiated and coordinated with other doctors, philanthropists and organisations from the USA — including DAAME (Deccan Alumni Association Middle East), DAA (Deccan College of Medical Science Alumni Association) and etc.
Asif Sohail coordinated all the doctors, NGOs, activists, and philanthropists based in Hyderabad.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Mohammad Hussain / July 10th, 2020
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 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
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
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
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).
Azam Campus Masjid Pune
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
First free community chartered flights benefit 395 Indians stranded in UAE due to COVID-19
South Indian superstar Mammootty in Dubai, / earlier.Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
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 / Image Credit: Supplied
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.”
Saravan KH / Image Credit: Supplied
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
A 22-year-old Indian Kashmiri has invented a ventilator made only from scrap parts: a soap box, a DVD drive, a bottle cap…
Even though the project is still at the prototype stage, the young inventor hopes his creation can contribute to India’s battle against the coronavirus.
source: http://www.arabnews.com / Arab News / Home / by AFP / June 19th, 2020
