Serving the haj pilgrims for over a decade

[email protected] (Media Release)
September 15, 2016

India Fraternity Forum (IFF) has been very keen and active in serving the Hajj pilgrims since it started the Hajj volunteer service more than a decade ago. It all started with a crude idea that sprang up in the minds of a few who of spending the Hajj holidaysby serving the pilgrims and the first group consisted of a few dozen, but the later years witnessed a steep growth in the number improvement in the modus operandi and the quality of the service.During last Hajj, IFF fielded more than 1000 volunteers for the service of pilgrims.

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Safety and health awareness classes

India Fraternity Forum has striven to improve the quality of service and expanded the area of service operation. For the last few years, the service of IFF starts with conducting the classes,educating the pilgrims on performing the rituals of Hajj in a safe and healthy environment through awareness sessionsat various locations in different states in India. Apart from conducting the awareness classes, IFF has prepared the Hajj guide that provides the details abouthealth and safety tips to help perform the Hajj rituals safely.

Receiving the piligrims on arrival

Next phase of volunteer service starts with the arrival of Indian pilgrims in Madeena. IFF volunteers receive them at the airports and help them to identify their luggage, as all of them look identical and in shame shape. IFF volunteers also assist the pilgrims to reach their accommodation building during their stay in Makkah / Madeena and Aziziyah.This servicewill continue till they leave the Kingdom after performing the Haj.

The service in Makkah near Masjidul Haram premises is remarkable and got appreciation from Indian Haj Mission and other authorities. Volunteers are working round the clock in Haram premises and Aziziyah guiding Hajis to their locations. Volunteers are distributing drinking water and slippers also to the pilgrims.

Service highlights - Mina & Arafa

Serving the pilgrims during the busiest days (7 – 13 of Dhul Hajja) in Mina is another major part and last year IFF has engaged 950 volunteers for this job.On the day of Arafat (9 Dhul hajja) around 200 volunteers were engaged in Arafa and Muzdalifa. The volunteers are given all necessary training and Arafa Mapabout locating the tents and to help a lost or stranded pilgrim to his destination very easily.

Map of Mina - developed by IFF

Few years ago, IFF has developed a map for Minawith grid lines, that enables a pilgrim or a volunteer to reachthe location easily and correctly, without any hurdles. IFF makes use of the numbering system for the roads, streets and correlating them with the numbers on the high mast poles making it easy to find the exact location of the tents in Mina, which had proved to be of great relief for the pilgrims, who are often lost and stranded.

The updated Map of Mina for 2016, will include the tent locations for the pilgrims under the Mutawwif organizations of South Asian countries, South East Asian countries, African Non-Arab countries, Turkey & European Muslims.

Mina tent locator app 2015

Considering the widespread usage of Android phones and access to internet India Fraternity Forum (IFF) has developed an app for the Hajj Service 2015, which would easily and precisely guide the Hajj pilgrims to reach their tents in Mina. This was a great leap ahead in solving a serious problem of getting stranded in Mina, particularly those pilgrims from outside the Kingdom.This android based app.(Mina Tent Locator) is quite simple and easy to use and requires internet connectivity only when it is downloaded for the first time.

Hajj navigator app. 2016- for Makkah, Mina & Aziziyah

Taking yet another leap ahead to serve the Hajj pilgrims, India Fraternity Forum launched an app, “HAJJ NAVIGATOR” which would easily and precisely guide the Hajj pilgrims to reach their destination(s) in not only in Mina, Makkah and Aziziyah.

This app is supported by the Google map and based on the data of roads and streets of Mina, building details of Indian pilgrim accommodation, hotels, hospitals & medical facilities in Makkah and Aziziyah. When the pilgrim or a Hajj service volunteer provides the data (of his location and his destination) in the app, he / she would find the route and distance with an approximate time to reach the destination immediately. If a pilgrim does not know his location he can select "my location" using the GPS, then provide his destination, which would mark the route to reach the destination together with the distance and time to destination. Once downloaded from Google Play store and installed in the mobile phone, the app does not require internet for finding the details.

Adding another feather on the cap of IFF in serving the guests of Allah, both these applications are developed by Muhammed Mukhtar, one of the members of IFF.

Dedication & Sacrifice of IFF volunteers

During the stampede in Mina, IFF volunteersrushed to the sceneand worked hardalongwith the security forces and rescue service men to help out the alive, injured and dead pilgrimsfrom the location to reach them to the hospitals by loading them in to ambulances. One of the IFF volunteers from the state of Jharkhand(Neyazul Haq) has lost his life while saving others.

IFF feels honoured to serve the Hajj pilgrims from all over the world and thankfully remembers the support and cooperationof the Consulate of India, Hajj Mission in Makkah and Madina, Maraakiz Al Haya (Makkah) and Ministry of Health (MOH) and the selfless and sincere dedication of the volunteerswithoutwhich the successful service would not have been possible.

IFF Hajj service team is headed by Shamsuddheen (President of IFF) asthe head of organizing the activities of the Forum and & Eng. Mudassir Nazer as the (Coordinator) for the Hajj service. Volunteer orientation is carried out by Mujeeb(Volunteer captian) and Mohammed Sadiq (Asst. Volunteer Captain). Besides, the Forum has an efficient support team which includes, Logistics, Training, Media, Medical, Railway station, Transportation and Camp, that enabled a smooth and successful operation.

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Comments

Haneef
 - 
Friday, 16 Sep 2016

Masha allah.. amy allah accept all your good deeds..

Abdul Samad
 - 
Friday, 16 Sep 2016

Ma'Sha'Allah great humanitarian work done by volunteers of India Fraternity Forum.may allah protect our brothers in Duniya and akhira ameen Ya rab.

Abdul Samad
 - 
Friday, 16 Sep 2016

Ma'Sha'Allah great humanitarian work done by volunteers of India Fraternity Forum.may Allah protect our brothers in Duniya and akhira ameen Ya rab.

Ahmed
 - 
Thursday, 15 Sep 2016

Barakallahu Feek ... May ALLAH bless U all.. and accept the ibadat of our Hajis

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Media Release
July 6,2020

The Chairman of Intellectual Council Jeddah, Syed Nasir Khurshid, called for a Zoom meeting on 2nd July, 2020 to celebrate the oath taking ceremony of the D K Shiva Kumar who took over as the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Mr Khurshid opened the meeting with a very enthusiastic and sincere note of congratulations to newly appointed president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr. D.K.Shivakumar.

The chief speaker for the evening was Saleem Khaleefa, vice Chairman of the Council, he said, for more than 4 decades, he is monitoring the politics of the Karnataka state very closely and also monitoring the role of crises management DK Shiva Kumar in the last 2 years, whether it is Rajya Sabha election of Mr. Ahmed Patel or managing the MLAs of Madhya Pradesh. He said, he is one of the best leaders of the party and the best leaders use “their brain, their heart, their soul and their guts.” And his leadership is fit in the size of all these characters. Growth is a very powerful word and fundamentally, party growth is the responsibility of the President and he can take a holistic approach to close the gap between and among the party cadres. 

Every effort is to be made to preserve the sense of unity within the party. We need to unite party base while appealing to voters. He should identify on ground challenges and find the mechanism to address them. He further pointed out that a President’s chief responsibility is to bring all the party leaders and office bearers on the same page with a Mission to bring back the congress party into power in the next assembly election. His smart strategies, road map, mechanism, booth management, better connected with the party workers, taking everyone along with him, will be a direction for the presidents of the party in other states to take party into power.

He pronounced his leadership is totally remarkable and has a track record of his very sensible leadership and he also known for his collaborative and crises management leadership style. Engr. Nasir suggested that his first task is to address the formidable challenges faced by the party and bring the Congress members together, on a very single aspect how to win the election. The party backbone and strength is gross-root workers who can play a significant role to take the party in a very strong and popular position in public. He emphasized that unity is the main strategy and ingredient to win the election, because a party divided will hurt, cannot win the election. Planning is everything and a good planning goes a long way, helping to win the election.  

All the members of the Council expressed their views and everyone is very much hopeful that he is the right person to lead the party from top.He has commanded immense respect from party workers, office bearers, all communities, groups, including opposition parties. He is a very experienced, have immense experience and hard-work leader and he is a strategist and knows the art how to motivate the party workers and unite all in a single rope.

Engr. Amjad Ali said, we are very much confident that he will re-structure from bottom to top, panchyat, taluka and district committees will be re-structured and will induct caliber and talented leaders who can understand and realize their responsibilities and accountability as head of the party at their levels with only one point how to win the coming election with thumping majority.

One of key members of the Council, Sajid Shaikh expressed joyfully that every single member of the party have confidence on the leadership of Mr. D.K Shiva Kumar and his appointment to the top position says a lot of nice things about him.  He has shown his great leadership and expert in crises management on many occasion.  The party in Karnataka is in good hands and I am sure he will sort-out all the difference between and among the party leaders and cadres, which has hurt the party in the last election and will bring all on the same page. Congress party and its workers are lucky to have such a passionate and hardworking president who is ready to work day in and day out to bring party in power in 2023 assembly election.

Prominent members of the Council, Engr. Azher Parvaiz, Engr. Abdul Wahid, Hazrat Qadri, Engr. Abdul Ameed, Saleem Khan, and Rafiuddin Kharadi commented, we looking forward his dynamic and result oriented leadership in organizing and re-shaping the party in the state, he will hold all congressmen together with a noble purpose, motivate every party worker to work with dedication so that congress can come back to power with absolute majority and he can count on our absolute support in booth management as well  suggest a few points to be included in the manifestos, running a high  successful voltage campaign highlighting the failure of the BJP government at the Center and at the state, between and among in the NRIs community across the Gulf Countries, including Europe and America. Council will do the value-based politics and will present the image of the Congress party, as the rational political party, with secular and inclusive, where people of all religions, caste, race and gender, feel wanted in the party, as its main ideology.

Syed Nasir Khurshid thanked entire team for attending the meeting he expressed his gratitude towards Vice Chairman of the council Saleem Khaleefa for speaking as chief speaker and giving updates, he said, team members are excited to meet in person with Mr. D.K. Shiva Kumar, when members visit India during their vacation.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Dubai, Aug 7: One may call it good luck, but for two Indian expats it was God who prevented them at the last minute from boarding the Air India Express plane that crashed in Kerala, killing at least 18 people on board.

According to India's Civil Aviation Ministry, the Boeing 737 aircraft on a flight from Dubai to Kozhikode overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport on Friday evening. There were 184 passengers including 10 infants, 2 pilots and four cabin crew onboard the aircraft.

Noufal Moin Vetten, an Ajman resident working as an office boy in a Sharjah school, was booked to travel on the flight and had checked in as per schedule.

Recounting his miraculous escape, Vetten, a resident of Malappuram, Thirunavaya, whose visa was cancelled a week ago, told Gulf News: “I was handed my boarding pass, but when I reached immigration, they told me I had to pay a fine of Dh 1,000 (Rs 20,430) for overstay. I had only Dh 500 (Rs10,215) with me.

"I called my school PRO and he told me to come back. He said they would follow protocols and pay the fines before sending me,“ he said.

Vetten was disappointed and called his family to let them know.

“When I heard about the crash, I was saddened for all the passengers. But I'm so relieved I missed it. God has been really merciful,” said Vetten.

Afsal Parrakodan, a resident of Abu Dhabi, had a similar stroke of luck.

“My work visa was cancelled about a week ago. After getting my boarding pass, I was told I had to pay a fine of Dh1,000 at the immigration counter, but I had only Dh500 on me.”

“I was very keen to board the flight and be with my family. So I called a friend who brought me the additional Dh500, but by then, my baggage had been offloaded and the flight's doors were closed,” said Parrakodan.

“I was feeling very sad and called my mother to tell her I had missed the flight. But a few hours later, when I learnt of the crash, I couldn’t help but feel relieved and thankful to God for saving my life,“ said an overwhelmed Parrakodan who plans to fly back next week. 

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Media Release
July 25,2020

In a humanitarian gesture to help fellow citizens in distress, the first in the series of chartered 
flights arranged by Thumbay Group, UAE and the Bearys Cultural Forum (BCF) Trust, 
Mangalore to repatriate stranded Kannadigas in the UAE took off from Ras Al Khaimah 
International Airport in the wee hours of 21st July 2020. The flight was fully occupied, with 186 passengers, all of them desperate to fly back to India for various reasons.

The initiative was conceived and implemented under the leadership of Dr. Thumbay Moideen - Founder President of Thumbay Group & Founder Patron of BCF and Dr. B K Yusuf, the 
President of BCF. The flight was organized on a purely charitable basis, with all necessary 
steps and precautions in place to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. Thumbay Group assigned its fleet of buses to transport the passengers free of charge from their residences in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman to the airport. The organizers also provided free meals and refreshments to the passengers, in addition to PPE kits and face-shields distributed free of 
charges.

The passengers on the first flight included many elderly individuals, people with serious 
illnesses like heart-related health issues and diabetes, pregnant ladies and little children as well as people who had lost their jobs and those with expired visas. Dr. B K Yusuf – BCF President, Dr. Kaup Mohammed - BCF General Secretary, other office bearers of BCF, as well as Thumbay Group’s representatives Mr. Farhad C – Director of the Hospitality Division of 
Thumbay Group and Engr. Farwaz P. C. – COO of the Construction Division were present at 
the airport to see off the first group of passengers.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Thumbay Moideen said, “This joint initiative of Thumbay 
Group and BCF is to support our fellow Kannadigas desperate to fly back home. We are happy that we have been able to reach out to many of them, to help them fly home to their families. We thank the Governments of the UAE and India, and the Indian Consulate, Dubai, for their support in making this happen. In the coming days, many more stranded Kannadigas would be repatriated under this joint initiative.”
Dr. B K Yusuf thanked Dr. Thumbay Moideen and the office-bearers and members of BCF for 
their efforts to make the initiative a success.

“We are proud that this initiative has brought relief to many Kannadigas and their families today. BCF is grateful to Thumbay Group for its support and partnership for all our humanitarian programs for the support of the needy.”

Dr. Kaup Mohammed said that it was a matter of pride that the much-awaited Thumbay-BCF 
repatriation flight had been carried out successfully. “Measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the flight and its passengers throughout the journey,” he said. He also thanked all the social organizations including Bhatkal Jamath, BCCI, BWF, KCF, DKSC, Kodagu Kannadigas, 
Kannadiga Help Line, Dubai Konkans and KSS, for their support. He specially thanked Mr. 
Syed Hassan Razeen, the owner of ARISTOCRAT Travels for his support in the ticketing, 
boarding and related processes. On behalf of Milano Optics Group and Maxcare, free gift 
hampers were distributed to selected passengers.

The passengers were received at Mangalore airport under the leadership of Mr. Mumtaz Ali - patron of BCF and other distinguished personalities of Mangalore including Mr. Moidin Bava - former MLA, Mr U. T. Ifthikhar, Mr. S. M. R Rashid - President of BCCI central committee and many others. The passengers were transferred to the hotels where they had registered for the mandatory quarantine.

The second flight under this joint initiative is scheduled to take-off from Ras Al Khaimah airport to Mangalore on 24th July 2020. A few more similar repatriation flights are to soon follow, in the coming weeks.

 

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