‘Hamare liye dharm to sirf insaaniyat hai’; Khalsa Aid team narrates the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0dxxLbj2EA&feature=youtu.be

Khalsa Aid an organisation run by Sikhs of India is in Bangladesh helping the displaced Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar. Even as the world lauded their humanitarian gesture, they were trolled back home. How can a Sikh organisation help Muslims? They were even labelled as supporters of terrorists. Khalsa Aid says Rohingya Muslims are in very desperate situation. Amarpreet Singh, Jeevanjoth Singh and Manpreet Singh shared their experiences on NDTV Prime Time.

Amarpreet and Jeevanjoth Singh who had gone to Bangladesh to help the refugees recalled that some women were carrying infants only a few days old in their arms. Many lost siblings, parents, partners to the killings. Their homes and entire villages were burnt to the ground.

Khalsa Aid team offered fresh water to the refugees disembarking from the boats and arranged free transportation to take them to the refugee camps.

Amarpreet Singh, Khalsa Aid Director, India said, “Those people were arriving in a desperate state. I have never seen anyone so relieved for a drink of water.”

Their immediate priority is to supply water and food as refugees continue to arrive hungry and parched – a daily langar service has been set-up for 30,000 to 50,000 people.

When asked by Ravish Kumar, host of the programme Prime Time, didn’t they feel bitterness towards the community which once did bad to them, they said, ‘Hamare liye dharm to sirf insaaniyat hai’.

They said social media like WhatsApp and Facebook are misleading people and presenting Rohingyas as terrorists. Khalsa Aid team stressed the need for awareness. People even trolled Khalsa Aid by saying that ‘wo sapoliyaun ko paani pila rahe hain’. The team retorted, ‘Ham to sirf bhookaun ko khana khilarahe hain’.