Endless ordeal of Abdul Basheer | ‘No land’s man’ now languishes in Mangaluru rehab

Harsha Raj Gatty
January 24, 2019

No identity, scant memory, mumbling few Urdu, Hindi and Arabic words; while some suspect Abdul Basheer to be a Pakistani, others give him a benefit of doubt that he maybe a Saudi National. But time and again having failed to produce any reliable documentation of identity among other things has got this 45-year on wrong side of the law.

"No one knows how he landed there (Kerala), but what he told us was that he was visiting Ajmer and his passport taken away, which left him stranded in India. But so far neither the Kerala authorities have been able to trace his passport or the origin of his nationality," Joseph Crasta, founder of Snehalaya Psycho Social Rehabilitation Centre said.

Wandering in streets of Kannur has already done enough for Abdul Basheer, after he was picked up by the Kannur police acting 'suspicious'. Further, when Basheer duly told the authorities of his recollection of his mother hailing from Burma and his father was Sayyed Hussain Makkanakkas, a Pakistani national, things didn’t seem to work in his favour. The Kasargod police formally charged him under Foreigners Act and arrested him on September 2012.

Subsequently, Basheer was produced before Kasargod CJM court, and he was duly awarded two years imprisonment at Kannur Jail. According to Kerala police, the jail authorities duly noticed that Basheer was not mentally stable therefore they admitted him for examination in mental-health care unit in Calicut. Although Abdul was slated to be released in November in 2015, he had to undergo another month of prison term since he was unable to pay the fine. Finally he was due to be released on December 2015.

But that was not the end to Basheer’s ordeal. He has neither been identified as an Indian nor has other nationality nor he been granted any refugee status. The authorities did not have a protocol, when the court ordered them to deport Basheer to his respective nation and he continued to be pushed around from one authority to another.

Although Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) Ernakulam contacted Saudi Embassy officials to enquire the residence status of Basheer, the foreign authorities told them that they don’t have his records.

Initially, Basheer was transferred to ‘open jail’ in Cheemeni, later under the request from Kerala government, the Kasaragod District officials requested Snehalaya Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Centre at Mangaluru to admit him.

 “Based on a number provided by him, we called a woman in Saudi, who claimed to be his sister and quite often asked about his whereabouts, but later the calls went unanswered and there are no efforts by anyone to provide him any relief,” says Joseph Crasta, founder, Snehalaya Charitable Trust.

According to Crasta, Basheer is schizophrenic but is not a violent case. “His statements about his family, background is inconsistent, although he can speak fluent Hindi and Arabic. Right now, he is the only 'foreigner' among the 167 inmates whom we have lodged in the facility. Earlier we had two Nepali's at our unit, we were able to trace their family, we now hope to reunite Basheer to his family as well,” Crasta adds.

Comments

Naaz
 - 
Thursday, 31 Jan 2019

if anyone can pass that Saudi Number, we can track that lady and inform about it. Nizam Uppala 00966551335641 Basheer Uppala 00966554226682

kumar
 - 
Thursday, 24 Jan 2019

I request the authorities to be kind on this innocent person and consider citizenship to hi m so that he can live peacefully.  I express my grattitudes to the charitable organisation for helping him.   there are many muslim organisations and rich people in Mangalore.  I think its their duty too to help him.  

Nishant Kudla
 - 
Thursday, 24 Jan 2019

He is eligible for Indian citizenship as he has spent several years in the country.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 25,2020

New Delhi, Jan 25: The latest edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary features 26 new Indian English words, including Aadhaar, chawl, dabba, hartal and shaadi.

The 10th edition of the dictionary, which was launched on Friday, has 384 Indian English words and incorporates over 1,000 new words such as chatbot, fake news and microplastic.

The dictionary focuses on language change and its evolution through the years, and has ensured that the language and examples used in the new edition are relevant and up to date with the times, Oxford University Press (OUP) said.

The new edition comes with interactive online support through the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries website and an app. The website includes advanced features such as audio-video tutorials, video walkthroughs, self-study activities and enhanced iWriter and iSpeaker tools.

"This edition has 26 new Indian English words of which 22 figure in the printed dictionary. The other four are in the digital version," said Fathima Dada, Managing Director (Education Division) at OUP.

Some of other new Indian words in the dictionary are auntie (while aunty already figures in the English dictionary, auntie is an Indianism), bus stand, deemed university, FIR, non-veg, redressal, tempo, tube light, veg and videograph.

The four new Indian English words in the online version of the dictionary are current (for electricity), looter, looting and upazila (one of the areas that a district is divided into for administration purposes).

According to OUP, the new edition provides better, more accurate and understandable definitions with examples, usage notes and additional resources to help the learner use the right word in the right context.

"Prevalence and common usage are the main criteria for enlisting new words. We scan the globe for words which are often used by people while speaking English. Then these words go through a rigorous testing process," Dada said.

"As OUP is the custodian of English language globally, these words have to go through its processes," she told PTI.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, she said, has been reinventing itself for nearly eight decades, anticipating the growing learning requirements of learners.

"The 10th edition also is equipped with a strong digital support system, including an app," she said.

It is equipped with several digital tools. With iSpeaker, learners can get help preparing for speaking exams and presentations. With iWriter, learners can plan, write and review their written work. Text Checker allows the teacher to check any text against the Oxford 3000, 5000, and OPAL (Oxford Phrasal Academic Lexicon) written word list.

Resources accessible through online premium access include lesson plans, worksheets, video walkthroughs, and classroom and self-study activities. With the OALD app one can find 86,000 words, 95,000 phrases, 112,000 meanings and 237,000 examples.

The dictionary, which spans 77 years, was originally published in Japan in 1942 and was first brought out by OUP in 1948. The learner's dictionary is based on the original values of its creator, Albert Sydney Hornby, whose aim was to help language learners worldwide understand the meaning of English words.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 5: A COVID-19 patient, who was admitted to Victoria hospital, has recovered from the disease after he was administered convalescent plasma therapy.

He is the second patient in the state who has recovered from COVID-19 after the therapy.

"I am happy to inform the second plasma therapy patient has recovered and shifted out of ICU. This middle-aged patient was admitted in Victoria hospital ICU with severe COVID-19 illness and was also diabetic with poor sugar control," Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Hospital Bengaluru said.

"The patient received convalescent plasma on May 27, since then there was steady improvement in patient's condition and was taken off high flow nasal oxygen on June 2, 2020, and is at present on a minimal oxygen, shifted toward yesterday. With the rapid recovery we hope to discharge the patient soon," he said.

Speaking further, Rao said: "This is a significant improvement and reassuring. We hope to see him recover completely and will closely monitor the condition going forward to send the patient from ward to home."

In Karnataka, 4,320 coronavirus cases have been reported including 1,610 cured/discharged/migrated and 57 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 27,2020

New Delhi, Jan 27: Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs while applying for Indian citizenship under the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), officials said on Monday.

The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Those who will seek Indian citizenship under the CAA will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs and this will be mentioned in the rules to be issued under the CAA, a government official said.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship.

The central government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of just three months to those who want to apply for Indian citizenship in Assam under the CAA, another official said.

Some Assam-specific provisions are expected to be incorporated in the rules to be issued for the implementation of the CAA.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had made a request about a fortnight ago to keep a limited period window for applying under the CAA and also incorporate some other Assam-specific provisions in the CAA rules.

The move comes in view of continuing protests against the CAA in Assam that have been going on since the legislation was passed by Parliament in December last year.

There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants who have entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion.

The protesters in Assam say that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.