Baby abandoned by mom at Udupi hospital in 1970 is now Swiss Parliamentarian!

coastaldigest.com news network
December 14, 2017

Udupi: Around 47 years ago, a newborn baby was abandoned by his mother at Basel Mission Hospital in South Indian temple town of Udupi. Today, he is the first Indian born parliamentarian in Switzerland!

Unfortunately, neither Nik Gugger nor his foster parents know who is his biological mother and why did she abandon.

As the Basel Mission Hospital could not trace the mother who left the hospital after giving birth to the male child, the newborn was sent to what is now the Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) campus at Illikkunnu in Kerala’s Thalassery.

Nik was sworn in as member of Nationalrat (Swiss Parliament) in Bern in November this year. He has been elected to Swiss Parliament as a candidate of the Evangelical Party. He is one of the youngest members in Swiss Parliament.

The father of three children still cherishes his association with people and institutions at Thalassery where had grown up as an orphan till a Swiss couple – Fritz Gugger and Elizabeth Gugger – formally adopted him and took him to Europe.

However, he is hesitant to find out his biological mother. “No mother will abandon her child without a strong reason. If I meet my mother now it will be shock to her,” says Nik, who believes in destiny.

“I am proud to be in between the two cultures, the Swiss and Indian culture,” says Nik, who is likely to visit India next year when the 70th anniversary of Indo-Swiss friendship would be celebrated.

Nik started his political career as a councillor in the town parliament of Winterthur, the sixth biggest town in Switzerland, and as a member in the Cantonal Council.

He recalls that his foster father was an experienced social worker who had played an important role in shaping him as a social worker. His social work had given him an opportunity to work in Colombia as a youth worker. He studied at the Center for Agogics in Basel, the University of Amsterdam and also at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Comments

Neeha
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congratulatioons,  happy to see this

shaji
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Thanks God for blessing you with such a nice foster parents.  Wish you all the best and hope you will meet your real some day somewhere.  

Zakir Husain
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congratulations!

Charan Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

He would have become president of Switzerland if he had grown up with her real biological mother.

Naren Kotian
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congrats Nik. God bless u. Now Bunder ka bakras who are busy in gujri business might be thinking why their mothers did not abandon them after giving them birth.

Manjay Sheela …
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Great story. But what I think is Mr Nik Gugger should trace her mom so that I can make a film on his life with additional masala casting ranveer Singh. Ramya krishna will play his mother’s role!

Sandeep
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Great improvement.. Congrats and All the best Nik Gugger

George
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

God's grace. God planned something. Congrats brother

WellWisher
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

May gods blessings always be with you and good luck.  Now you may want to know your mother / parents. But in temple city Udupi you don't try .  Specialized group may forcefully drag you to accept certain religion hence

be careful on these activist.

Don't forget your mother land culture.

Danish
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

We cant say, if the mother had not abandoned him, he would now be living here as a govt employee or IT engineer. See his luck

Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Now we may see as a follow ups such as motherhood claims, compensation etc

Rahul
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Proud moment. Great to see this. Congrats

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: The Delhi Police has traced Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, who has been on the run after an FIR was registered against him for organising a religious gathering last month despite restrictions to combat the coronavirus, sources said on Wednesday.

The cleric has been traced to Zakir Nagar in southeast Delhi, sources said.

His lawyer Tauseef Khan, however, said Saad is under self-quarantine and will join investigation after his quarantine period is over.

On March 31, Delhi Police's Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by Station House Officer Nizamuddin for holding the congregation here allegedly in violation of the orders against large gathering and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A day later, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch wrote to Saad and others, seeking the details under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A second notice was also issued to him this week.

"Saad is currently under self-quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over," his advocate, Tauseef Khan, told PTI.

Saad's quarantine is expected to end next week.

His lawyer said a reply to the second notice will be given soon.

In an audio message last week, Saad said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamudddin markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

Visited by thousands last month, the Nizamudddin centre also turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in national capital and country.

According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the centre on March 21 and reminded them of the government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

However, no one paid any heed to the police's direction, it said. Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.

On March 24, the government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering.

The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of the centre.

The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.

So far, several hundred cases of COVID-19 cases across the country have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi last month.

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.

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News Network
April 2,2020
Bengaluru, Apr 2: About 1,500 people from Karnataka might have attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin in the national capital between March 8 to 20. Of these, the State has been able to trace 800 people.
 
Of the 800 persons, 143 people have been found to be symptomatic.
 
Mr Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), in a statement here on Thursday said that the Centre had sent the list of 1,500 people to the State.
 
“We cannot say if all these have attended the congregation. Some of them may have attended and some may be the contacts of those who have attended. We have been able to trace 800 from the list and samples of 143 symptomatic persons have been sent for tests."

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News Network
May 8,2020

Bengaluru, May 8: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar along with Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday visited Kempegowda International airport for inspection of the screening facility as over 10,000 people from Karnataka stranded in other countries are scheduled to arrive in the state. 

Sudhakar said all safety measures have been taken for the screening and quarantine of all passengers in hotels, hostels, and school buildings.

He appealed to local residents not to panic as adequate safety measures are being taken to prevent any spread of COVID-19 infection.

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