News Desk |
Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum called a Pakistani Abra driver Mubashir Zahoor Ellahi, from Sialkot, the ‘best captain’.
Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council boarded Ellahi’s Abra and decided to go live on Instagram. Sheikh Hamdan filmed himself and his companion traveling on the Abra.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhoLb1IHazd/?taken-by=faz3
He then reached out to the captain Mubashir Ellahi and informed him that they were live on Dubai’s Crown Prince Instagram account. Sheikh Hamdan called him by asking his name. He gave him the glad tidings and called him the ‘best captain’ in the video.
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The video was posted on Instagram that was liked around 65,000 times and gained about 2,000 comments. Mubashir Zahoor Ellahi, 25, for eight-years served as a boat skipper that carries residents and tourists who cross the Dubai Creek from Old Souq to Baniyas.
Mubashir’s supervisor said they prepared two Abra for them soon after receiving the notification that Royal family will be traveling. “We actually prepared two boats: one is enclosed with AC inside and the other open-air Abra,” Mansoor said.
“We did not know that it was Sheikh Hamdan. He could have chosen the Abra with AC but he preferred the open-air Abra that was skippered by Mubashar.”
Mubasharsaid: “In my eight years as an Abra captain, today [Monday] is the happiest day in my life. This story is something I will be proud to share with my family back home – I’m sure my parents will be very proud of me. And this is a nice tale I will tell my future kids.”
“It was such a big honor when Sheikh Hamdan came to me and patted my back. It was a reassurance and a reward that, as an expat, I’m doing a good job,” he added.
“Now I’m more than inspired to do my job – after all, Abra captains like me are not just ferrying passengers, we also showcase Dubai to tourists,” Mubashar said.
Read more: Sialkot Police yet to arrest Nawa-i-Waqt-journalist Zeeshan Butt’s killer
“I’m still in complete awe,” Ellahi said. “I could not believe I had a royalty as a passenger and it was like a dream come true for me to come face to face with the Dubai Crown Prince.”
“I was surprised and elated but during the few minutes I was ferrying Sheikh Hamdan and his company on my boat, never did I feel uneasy because Sheikh Hamdan did not make me feel that he is my prince but appeared like an old-time friend,” Ellahi added.
Earlier this month, senior former Dubai Police Official Lt Gen Dhahi Khalfan on his Twitter account called Pakistanis a dangerous threat to Gulf communities “as they are the biggest drug importer in the country and it must be a national duty to stop hiring them”
Though Khalfan did not have any official data to back claims, he stressed Indians are far more disciplined and safe, and Pakistanis must go through more security check just like Bangladeshis.
His comments, however, infuriated Pakistani communities but Sheikh Hamdan’s appreciation of Mubashir Zahoor Ellahi is no less than a treat for Pakistan community.