By TCN News,
Chennai: Naja is an Arabic word that means “salvation” and most Muslims understand it in terms of their own exclusive redemption in this world and the hereafter. Not the Naja Educational Social and Charitable Trust (NEST). In an exemplary display of transcendence beyond this narrow definition of naja, NEST has been working towards the liberation of the poor from the throes of educational, economic and social backwardness irrespective of religion, caste or sect.
Ever since its establishment in 2009 in one of the backward suburbs of Chennai, Alandur, NEST, has been helping the less fortunate sections of society with educational and medical aid. And in a show of inter-faith harmony, the A.J.S. Nidhi School, a Christian institution, has stood by NEST by offering its premises at a nominal cost.
This year NEST distributed Rs 5, 23,000 to 293 people in a function held at the A.J.S. Nidhi School. A substantial number of the beneficiaries were non-Muslims. Incidentally, it was Krishnamurthy, who opened the meeting with a translation of the verses of the Quran in Tamil after their formal recital by a Muslim hafiz.
Mr. Shakeel Akthar Inspector General of Tamilnadu Police (Headquarters), who was also the chief guest of the programme, pointed out that India can develop only when all its citizens acquire proper education. He congratulated NEST for the good work it was doing to achieve this objective and called upon philanthropists to support NEST.
Mr. Dawood Mia Khan, secretary, Quaide Milleth College for Men, Chennai, in speech lauded the members of NAJA Trust for going beyond religion in distributing their aid. The meeting was presided over by Abdul Jabbar Suhail, the Chairman of NEST.