A UAE-based Pakistani man, Zahid Ahmed Noor, made exemplary humanitarian efforts to send the mortal remains of an Indian construction worker to his hometown in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.
An Indian man named Chandrika died of a heart attack in Abu Dhabi on January 16th but his body remained in the hospital for 10 days until Ahmed intervened to complete the legal procedures to send his body home, whom he did not even know.
Besides making repatriation efforts with Indian Embassy, this compassionate Pakistani man also bore all the related costs of around Dh4,200. He also gave Dh2,000 to the wife of the deceased man.
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Ahmed remained humble and said he went out of the way purely on humanitarian grounds. “As a Muslim, I am obliged to serve humanity, regardless of race, color, religion or nationality. I just did my job,” said Ahmad who runs a carpentry business in Al-Ain.
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He postponed his visit to Peshawar to see his ailing father for the purpose. In an interview, he recalled that he got to know about Chandrika when he visited the construction company office in Abu Dhabi.
“I had gone there to meet a client when I heard that one of their staff had died and his body has been lying in a hospital waiting to be repatriated,” Ahmed recalled.
“I felt a lump in my throat as I thought about the worker’s family. If losing a bread-winner unexpectedly in another country was not heart-breaking enough, the man’s loved ones were also facing an agonizing wait to carry out his funeral rites. At that moment I decided to take things in my hand,” said Ahmed.
That’s the least of my concern I did what I had to do and will do it again if need be. What good is money if it doesn’t help someone
Ahmed soon began the repatriation process which saw him visiting the Indian Embassy to submit various documents including papers from the police, hospital, embalm center, cargo and, airline. He also contacted the deceased’s widow Shila Devi, whose thumb impression was needed for the clearance letter.
He paid Dh 1300 hospital bill, Dh21,00 to a cargo company to prepare a standard coffin for Chandrika, Dh600 for a ticket of a person carrying the coffin and Dh 200 for ambulance charges in India.
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“On an afterthought, I also wired Dh2,000 to the bank account of Sheila Devi,” he said.
Ahmed said he does not worry about if the construction company would reimburse him. “That’s the least of my concern I did what I had to do and will do it again if need be. What good is money if it doesn’t help someone,” he said.
Shila Devi expressed gratitude to Ahmad. “Who does this for random strangers? Zahid Bhai (brother Zahid) has reinforced my faith in humanity,” she said when contacted by a UAE media outlet.