Jeddah: The Hyderabadi community is known for conducting extravaganza cultural and literal events abroad yet it remains silent when it comes to extending help to humanitarian causes.
An optimistic bed ridden Mohammed Shafiquddin is desperately looking for his compatriots to bail him out.
The 54-year-old native of Secunderabad did not even remotely think that his life would change forever during the lockdown following the pandemic.
The pandemic made a giant distraction to livelihoods besides crippling social and economic systems. It has drastically changed the lives of some expatriates in Gulf countries and Shafiquddin is among those unfortunate ones.
He was working in Ahsa town in Saudi Arabia for a long time. He was operating a laundry and also working as a private car driver. When COVID-19 raged the world, it didn’t spare him. During the lockdown, the car and the laundry remained nonfunctional however his rent kept piling up. Leave alone paying rent, penniless Shafiq did not even have any money to feed himself or buy medicine to cure himself of chronic illnesses.
Since he failed to pay the due amount, he was dragged to the court which ordered him to settle the payment and slapped a travel ban on him.
COVID-19 was not confined to him, it also crippled his family back home as they began to face financial difficulties.
Meanwhile, his Iqama expired and he became an illegal resident in Saudi Arabia.
Shafiq’s dream failed to take off, causing his health to take a turn for the worse as he failed to take medicines. He is out of the ambit of medical insurance following the expiry of Iqama which hit his medical care and his condition deteriorated.
Alongside being battered with many difficulties, he now suffers from paralysis secondary to his long-standing hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus and neurology aliment.
In a bid to reach home to India, Shafiq had reached the Indian Embassy in a state of paralysis, embassy staff shifted him to a polyclinic from where he was moved into a private facility after some time on a temporary basis.
Since he is unable to move on his own, care is being provided by the Indian embassy. A nurse visits him to check on his condition and change his diapers.
Indian Community workers Shihab Kottukad, Muzammil (0556473503) and Mohammed Abul Jabbar (0502345839) have been tirelessly working to aid the bedridden destitute worker to settle his amount in the court and repatriate home.
“There was no room to negotiate, as it was a court order and must comply by paying the due amount”, said an official.
Short of breath, and loss of vocal pitch, Shafiq appeals to the community in a choking voice with tears in his eyes to support him to reach home to his family before his death arrives.
It’s noteworthy to mention that recently an NRI hailing from Uttar Pradesh died in Saudi Arabia under similar circumstances.