Allah gave me strength, says driver Salim who saved 50 Amarnath pilgrims from terrorists

coastaldigest.com web desk
July 11, 2017

The terror attack on the bus of Amarnath yatris in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday evening would have claimed more innocent lives had it not been for the exemplary courage shown by Salim Sheikh, the driver of the bus, who drove the pilgrims to safety amid indiscriminate firing of bullets by militants.

It was about 8.20 pm. A white-coloured bus (GJ09Z9979) with 56 Amarnath pilgrims on board was travelling from Srinagar to Jammu. The bus was not officially registered with the Amarnath Shrine Board for the pilgrimage and was without police escort.

As soon as the bus reached near Khanabal, 3-5 terrorists opened fire. It was pitch-dark outside and raining bullets. However, driver Salim Sheikh kept his cool. Realising that halting the bus will have dangerous consequences, Salim drove for nearly two kilometres on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway before he reached an army camp. The attack left seven dead and over 30 injured.

‘Allah gave me strength’

“The terrorist first fired from the front with the intention to eliminate the driver. I ducked sideways to escape the bullets and drove ahead. I do not know how I got the strength to go on at that time. Maybe Allah helped me and gave me strength,” Salim told media persons as he stepped out of an IAF plane that brought the deceased as well as those injured in the attack to Surat, Gujarat, Tuesday afternoon.

Salim, who also belongs to Gujarat, said he escaped unharmed in the incident while another passenger seated beside him was injured.

Bravery Award

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today praised bus driver Salim Sheikh for showing immense courage and saving lives of nearly 50 Amarnath pilgrims.

"Want to thank bus driver for saving lives of people. Will nominate his name for bravery award," Rupani told reporters at Surat airport where he received those injured in the terror attack.

“I spoke to the passengers and they were all praise for the driver. He drove despite the firing and took them to safety. It made a lot of difference and many lives were saved. He did not stop. Had he stopped, more lives could have been lost,” said Munir Khan, IG, Kashmir.

Family is proud

Salim’s family in Gujarat is also proud him. His cousin, Javed, said that Salim called him around 9.30 PM informing the family about the firing on the bus. “He couldn’t save seven lives but managed to move 50 people to a safe place. We are proud of him,” Javed added.

Comments

Holy cow
 - 
Thursday, 13 Jul 2017

What else does bjp want other than boycotting peace. It never wants peace between Hindus and Muslims. and also Hindus following their agenda of hindu rashtra which will never happen. Looks like they want more violence to finally get Muslims out of their country. Remember Muslim ruled for 800 years and if they wanted to make India a Muslim rashtra, they could have done it easily. Gandus open your mind

Sahil
 - 
Thursday, 13 Jul 2017

Not clear that RSS did the bombing. But clearly written that CMI bombed RSS and BJP offices and killed 1 bjp person. So terrorist are CPI workers. All cpi workers should be killed.

Mani
 - 
Thursday, 13 Jul 2017

Dont you have shame Nirmala . its only a state ...all over INDIA your ideological fanatics killing innocents in the name of COW Matha .....stop that first ....

Its all because of RSS dirty ideology ...where chanting kill kill kill and kill is nationalism .......

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News Network
February 14,2020

Mysuru, Feb 14: Citing the coronavirus scare prevalent in the city, hotel owners have urged the civic corporation to shut down roadside food vends, calling them a risk to public health.

A team of the city Hotel Owners Association, led by president C Narayanagowda and honorary secretary Ravindra Bhat, met mayor Tasneem Bano and MCC commissioner Gurudatta Hegde on Tuesday and urged them to implement the high court’s ban on street food vending.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the association said it had raised the poor hygiene at such joints amid the coronavirus threat and increasing incidence of chikungunya and malaria in the city. There is no check on the ingredients or water used and the cleanliness of the kitchens and cooking staff, they pointed out. Many of the joints operate near drains and public urinals and don’t have running water for washing or cleaning utensils, they said. Besides, the vends dump unsegregated garbage and compromise pedestrian safety by blocking pavements, they alleged.

“As this involves the livelihood of the vendors, I will take a decision after discussions with the commissioner and elected representatives,” the mayor said while pointing out that MCC had issued identity cards to the vendors after collecting details about them and their stalls. She said the health and education standing committees would also be consulted.

Commissioner Hegde said MCC was planning to move the vendors to designated hawking zones to ensure their livelihood was not affected. He explained that any drive to remove the vends was fraught with law and order problems. “False cases have been filed against MCC officers whenever they conducted drives against footpath food vendors in non-hawking zones. We will consult with the city police commissioner before taking any steps,” he said.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 2,2020

Mangaluru, May 2: The Dakshina Kannada district administration is gearing up to make necessary arragements at the Mangaluru International Airport as the Centre has shown green signal to bring back stranded Indians from the Gulf countries. 

Karnataka is making efforts to bring back 10,823 people stuck abroad. Apart from Mangaluru, Bengaluru Airport also will be used. As many as 6,100 people will be transported in first stage with speical flights. Soon after their arrival, the administraion will send them to compulsary quarantinement in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu and other neighbouring districts.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateeel said that the govt has made elaborate arrangements to conduct medical test on arrival at the airport. As per plan, based on medical check-up, they will be categorised as group A/B/C. Later, they will be quarantined for the mandated days, he added.

The following is the break-up Kannadigas stranded abroad: 4,408 people are tourists/visitors, 3,074 students, 2,784 migrants/working professionals and 557 shipping crew.

Countries from where stranded people will be brought back to Karnataka in the first stage include Canada (329), the US (927), the UAE (2,575), Qatar (414), and Saudi Arabia (927).

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News Network
July 13,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 13: Referring to political happenings in Rajasthan, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President and former Karnataka Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday expressed confidence, saying Sachin Pilot is a 'sincere Congressman' and he will not quit the party.

"No, he (Pilot) will not leave. I have full confidence that he will not leave. He is a very sincere Congressman like his father (Rajesh Pilot). He has built the party for the past six-seven years. He is the President (Rajasthan state unit), he has done his best for the party," Shivakumar added.

Talking to media here on Monday, he said, "there may be some issues, I'm not saying no, but everything will be sorted out." A crucial meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will be held at Jaipur on Monday, amid deepening political crisis in Rajasthan, and the party has issued a whip to all party legislators to attend without fail.

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