P A Hameed Padubidri, Riyadh
Daijiworld Media Network - Riyadh
Riyadh, Apr 7: "If we had not come over to Saudi Arabia, we would not have known the ground realities of the situation about the string operation under the Nitaqat program, where a lot of Indians (including Kannadigas) are currently facing difficulties and problems; we met and discussed in detail about the issue with the Indian Ambassador Hameed Rao to find a way-out for the ongoing problem through the Indian Government and the Saudi Arabian Government; we don’t have any prejudice nor negative sentiment against the Saudi Government; we will try to solve the situation with the mutual understanding and cooperation of the Saudi authorities," said Jayaprakash Hegde, Member of Parliament of Udupi-Chikmaglur constituency.
He was addressing the gathering at the felicitation ceremony of MP/MLA and Riyadh-Mangalore Direct Flight Campaign organized by Jamiyathul Falah (JF) Riyadh (Karnataka State Awarded Organization) with the cooperation of Karavali Welfare Association Riyadh (KWAR) and other organizations at Saffron Hall in Riyadh, capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Jayaprakash Hegde and U T Khader, Mangalore MLA were the VIP passengers in the first Mangalore-Dammam direct flight (Air India Express) to touch down in Dammam King Fahad Intl Airport on last Wednesday and are the first people’s representatives from the undivided Dakshina Kannada to come to the Kingdom for the first time in the history.
"Saudi Arabia is the country, which elevated the quality of life of 2 million Indians, who in return have been rendering a tremendous contributions for the development of this country. We have to respect the local law and order as we respect our country’s law. As we knew, a grace period of two months were granted by the Saudi authorities, where the situation of visa status and residence permit are allowed to be mitigated; meanwhile we will see that Indian Government will also look into the condition on the bilateral converse," Hegde said.
He further said, “Nitaqat programme which came into existence in 2009 aims at providing job opportunities for Saudi nationals in private sectors; we respect their move in creating job openings for their citizens. However, some visa agencies and individuals, who recruits manpowers from India, are not providing them a right and proper information about the status of their visa and contract; a lot of people from Karnataka, who are very keen in the queue to enter into the Kingdom on work visa, should know the proper documents and company’s name including individual sponsor in their visa documentation; we don’t want to see those people to arrive herein and get into trouble with their mistakes and ignorance.……”
“I got account of around 3 to 4 thousand Indians, who are in jails in Saudi Arabia; we will sort it out through the State and Central governments including various government agencies in India together with respective district administrations in the State; I had already contacted yesterday the Chief Secretary of Karnataka Government also over telephone in this regard and advised him to issue the memo to each district commissioner to certify the status of their Indian citizenship in order to get them released from the jails and repatriated from the Kingdom to their home town in Karnataka. We will work hard after having a concrete picture in hand for the causes of NRIs in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the gulf countries including direct flight from Mangalore to Riyadh and Jeddah. We succeeded in our attempts to fulfill a part of our effort by having a direct flight from Mangalore to Dammam twice a week. I already congratulated the Ministry of Aviation and other agencies of Government of India for getting the long-awaited dream of Mangaloreans in Saudi Arabia implemented; I assure you that I will try my maximum level best to see the direct flight from Mangalore to Riyadh and Jeddah to be launched soon,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, U T Khader said, “We could know the present state of affairs in the Kingdom and myself & MP Jayaprakash Hegde will endeavor to find a proper solution for this cause; also, we will fight for the cause of NRIs of Karnataka in Saudi Arabia. I will take initiative in seeing the Kannada text books properly and sufficiently provided on time in the Indian international schools in Saudi Arabia; our youngsters in Saudi Arabia or other gulf countries must be sincere and patient in their jobs despite of its nature; all the senior successful tycoons and people working in the gulf countries started their career in low profile and eventually, they came on the fore because of their honesty and hard works.”
He appreciated the Mangaloreans in particular and Kannadigas in general for their hard slogs and efforts. Continuing his speech, he said that because of the people who worked hard in this country, the economy of our region is on the flourishing move; he reiterated on the occasion a piece of appreciation uttered by the Indian Ambassador Hameed Rao, towards the people of Karnataka stressing his foregoing point.
"Politics should not be a barrier even for smile; we should try hard to forget the differences and hard feelings and work together for the betterment of our country and to be good citizens of India; we are not decreed as to how and where we born and die, but it is possible for us to utilize our lives in right and good direction. Life is very short, we can make it very sweet…”
Mohammed Asif, chairman of AMACO in Jubail, who was guest of honor on the occasion, spoke occasionally. He said, “It was my hard effort to see all the major destinations of the Kingdom to be connected to Mangalore through direct flights; due to some technical snags, the Indian Aviation ministry approved the flight initially to Dammam; I will still pursue the matter with the concerned till I see the launching of direct flight from Mangalore to Riyadh and Jeddah. He congratulated the MP and MLA for their exertions in making our long pending demand fulfilled…”
Jayaprakash Hegde and U.T.Khader were felicitated in the colorful occasion amidst a big round of applause and ovations. Both congratulated all the Mangaloreans on the occasion for their kind and loving gesture. Various organizations like KWAR, BARSA Riyadh, IFF, PANORAMA Riyadh, DKMO, AL-Madeena Associaiton, Aangem Konkanache Riyadh, Aangem ghar, DK Sunni Association and others have greeted them with the bouquets and mementos.
With the successful landing of Mangalore-Dammam direct flight at King Fahad International Airport Dammam, a long-awaited dream of Mangloreans in Saudi Arabia, especially in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has flapped its wing into a reality. It’s a historic moment for the people of Mangalore and other neighboring districts and northern parts of Kerala, who were facing a lot of hassles while flying from Dammam to these destinations through several stopovers. However, other parts of the Kingdom (particularly, Riyadh, Qassim, Jeddah and other regions), where Mangaloreans largely reside, momentarily were put aside to have this chance. The time had already matured with all potentials to have had a direct flights to Mangalore from major destinations of the Kingdom. The Mangalore people residing in these regions are still anticipating the direct flight launch from these regions and kept hope on the assurance of the MP and MLA.
The event was kicked off with the recitation of a verse from Qur’an and welcome speech by Mohammed Mubeen A.G.Sullia, President of JF Riyadh. The series of the event was conducted by Parvez Ali, the chairman of the event and ex-president of JF Riyadh. Akhther Hussain, NRCC Amir of JF Saudi Arabia was on the dais.
Kingsley, Assistant Manager of Air India Express, Royston Prabhu, President of KWAR, Ramesh Shetty and Vijay Rai, ex-presidents of KWAR, Abubakar Padubidri (Rasico), President of DK Sunni Association, Haneef, DMKO President, Rajesh Kumar KWAR, Hameed Wenz, Naushad IFF Riyadh, Nelson Karkala and others were present on the occasion.
Nazeer Ahmed, vice-president of JF, gave a vote of thanks.