By Kaleem Kawaja,
The Sikh community in India has pledged to donate 250,000 packages of ready- to- eat meals daily for next few days to the victims of the recent horrible earthquake in Nepal. This is an awesome example of how the Sikh community always helps the suffering in their hour of need. When floods hit Kashmir in September 2014, the Sikh community donated 100,000 meal packages.
News reports indicate that about 5,000 people have died in this earthquake in Nepal and it is feared that the death toll may climb to 10,000. Earthquake was followed by torrential rain and landslides. The conditions are horrible and a lesson for the mankind at large. Help is urgently needed.
We appeal to the Muslim community in India and their major organizations and mosques to organize a similar donation of 100,000 ready-to-eat meals in the next few days. Aside from being a Zakat/ Khairat item that Islam strongly recommends, this donation will generate huge goodwill in the Hindu community for the Muslims, as most of the victims are likely to be Hindus since Nepal population is mostly Hindu.
The Association of Indian Muslims of America is pledging a donation of Rs 31,000 towards relief program for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.
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(Kaleem Khwaja is the Executive Director of Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM).)