Gurudwara Dubai arranges safe return of 209 Indian expats

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara Dubai successfully arranged the first ever chartered flight for the people stranded in the country to Amristar. The Indigo flight took off on Thursday from Dubai with a total of 209 passengers.

“We are thankful to the Indian Consulate and Indian Embassy, UAE for all their support to make this happen. There is has been a huge support from the Khalsa Motorcycle Club UAE who have been tirelessly helping us with this initiative. Special thanks to Punjab Government for their timely approvals,” said Surender Kandhari, Chairman Guru Nanak Darbar Dubai.

“We are in the process of arranging for more chartered flights to Amritsar in the coming days.  The second flight is scheduled for 27th June, two are in the pipeline, and we are working on six more flights in the coming weeks making sure they reach home safely and at the earliest,” he added.

Sikhs have been at the forefront of philanthropic work throughout the world and have been like a pillar of support for victims, providing them with medical aid, food, water, and everyday essentials to fight against the deadly coronavirus disease as the spirit of community service is an integral part of the Sikh faith.

Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara Dubai has been distributing meals to around 1500 people everyday since March with the help of Indian consulate and few volunteers to the blue collared workers and the needy in the UAE during these difficult times of Covid-19. This is our commitment towards the society, as it also reminds us of our shared responsibility to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves and the basic principles that bind people of different faiths together.

“We are happy to see that our brethren are being repatriated to their homes during this difficult situation in Dubai and hope that are all well settled and reunite with their families after their quarantine at the earliest,” said Kandhari. More than 200 chartered flights have been operated, besides the special flights operated by Air India under the Vande Bharat Mission launched on May 7 to repatriate Indians stranded in the UAE due to Covid-19 situation. More than 60,000 UAE-based NRIs have returned to Indian safely.