By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net
Members of the All India Forward Bloc party’s Jalpaiguri unit have requested the President of India, Ramnath Kovind to nominate Karimul Haque, the man behind the ‘bike ambulance’ who was awarded the Padma Shri last year for his exemplary achievements, by the Rajya Sabha.
The demand, according to the district Vice president of the Party, is an attempt to respect and acknowledge the efforts of Haque. The Party wants the Rajya Sabha nomination as “a homage to him (Haque) for his contributions to the marginalised society. But Karimul rejected the proposal and he is happy with his own work and wishes to remain the same and continue to help poor people.
Haque has been running an ambulance service for free for all the local residents to ensure that no one ever dies due to lack of timely medical service. Haque knows the pain of losing a family member: he had started this ambulance service after he lost his mother due to the unavailability of an ambulance. As a worker in a tea estate, he made just Rs 4,000 a month but never thought twice before spending Rs 2,000 for fuel and other costs out of his own pocket. “I am doing this in memory of my mother so that God grants her a place in heaven,” he had told TwoCircles.net when we first interviewed him in 2012.
The decision of seeking Haque as a candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha nomination is based on two factors, according to the Govinda Ray, the Vice-President of the Jalpaiguri district Forward Block Party and also a member of the State Committee. “On one hand, Karimul, a Padma Shri awardee, has been engaging himself in social service activities for a long time. So nominating his name will be a homage to his contributions to the marginalised society and an honour to the district. On the other hand, the North Bengal comprises one-third of the total population of the State. But unfortunately, since 1952 no candidates have been nominated under President’s consideration as a candidate in the Rajya Sabha,” he said.
Karimul thanked the Forward Bloc Party members for selecting his name but refused to hold the proposed post. While speaking to TwoCircles.Net, he said, “I am thankful to the Party bearers for proposing my name. But I don’t deserve the post. My task is to help the poor and marginalised people and I am quite happy with this job as I am.” He added, “I will be happy if good-hearted people come forward to follow the same that I do. It will increase the chances of creating a better society.”