By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Bangalore: When Saif Sultan Sayed and his group of friends read about the death of little children in relief camps, housing victims of communal riots that broke out in Muzaffarnagar, he and his two friends wanted to step up and help.
And help they did.
The friends teamed up with Bangalore based Guidance for Mankind Trust (GFM Trust) and managed to collect funds for 2,500 blankets, 30 temporary toilets, 200 kilo grams of infant food, 300 winter ear plugs, 1,000 litres of milk for children and pregnant women and hot food for around 500 people. They finally set out to Muzaffarnagar and distributed the materials to those in need.
Saif Sultan Sayed and Jawed Manzoor with children at the relief camp.
Speaking at the fundraising event organised today by various city based Muslim organisations, Saif who recently returned from Muzaffarnagar, warned the audience of the dire humanitarian situation in the relief camps. Recollecting his and his team’s experience at the camps, he said there are thousands of people living in sub-human conditions, where there is scarcity of food, shelter or absolutely any basic human amenities.
He shared one particular incident, which he encountered at a camp where, in the name of doctors and medical aid, the government had sent, low rung officials, who gave the same medicine for fever, diarrhea and pneumonia. He said the situation of women and children in particular is most alarming, where girls as young as 12 are being molested. Parents fearing the safety of their female children are getting them married off and Saif says there has been more than 300 such marriages since the camps were setup. He also pointed at a dangerous recent trend where, seeing the vulnerability of women in these camps, men from surrounding villages come to hawk on them every night.
Jawed Manzoor and Sameer Siddiqui distributing relief material.
Saif stressed the urgency to help victims in this hour of need and emphasized the need for volunteers, especially doctors and nurses to render their help.
Other speakers at the event included Shaikh Samiullah, Mr.Imtiaz Chowdhry, Mr.Zaid Hussain, Mr.Ashraf Ali, Shaikh Javeed Oomari and Mr.Umar Shariff, who spoke about the collective efforts required from the community to help each other and urged the audience to donate as much as they can towards the cause.
Sameer Siddiqui and Saif Sultan Sayed updating record.
“Caravan of Hope” will be visiting relief camps in Muzaffarnagar, in different batches in coming weeks and has urged people to donate and volunteer in the initiative.
Interested organisations and individuals can send their donations to:
G.F.M. CHARITABLE TRUST.
RTGS/NEFT/IFSC Code icic0000252.
A/c No 025205003975 ICICI Bank
Cox Town, Bangalore.
You could also call them at: +91 9900260031, +91 9845784433, email at: [email protected] and find them on: https://www.facebook.com/gfmcaravanofhope