[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="E. Ahamed acted as a bridge of rapport connecting India with the Gulf, Mideast" ids="117021,117020,117019,117022"] By Hassan Cheruppa JEDDAH — E. Ahamed, national president of Indian Union Muslim League and former minister of state for external affairs, who passed away on Tuesday, is rightly called a true ambassador and a bridge of rapport connecting the people and governments of India with the Gulf and Middle Eastern states. "Ahamed Sahib was a true champion of the causes of the millions of Indian diaspora working in the Gulf and the Middle East region," said B.S. Mubarak, former consul general of India to Saudi Arabia. Mubarak now serves at the headquarters of India's Ministry of External Affairs as director of the Southern Division, which is handling the affairs of ASEAN countries plus Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands. Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India Dr. Saud Mohammed Al-Sati said that E. Ahamed played a very remarkable and significant role in further strengthening the historic relationship and strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and India. Speaking to Saudi Gazette over phone from New Delhi, Al-Sati said that he was deeply saddened over the demise of his intimate personal friend. Al-Sati paid last respect to Ahamed when his body was kept at his residence on Wednesday. "Saudi Arabia has lost a big friend with the death of Ahamed," he said while praying for his forgiveness. Sayeed A. Baba, principal secretary at India's Sports and Youth Services Department, said that he was profoundly saddened to hear news of the death of Ahamed, a long time popular Indian minister from the southern state of Kerala. "I had the opportunity to work with him during my days in Jeddah," said Baba, who served as Indian consul general in Jeddah. He offered sincere condolences to his bereaved family members. Mubarak visited on Wednesday the house of E. Ahamed in New Delhi to pay his last respects. Speaking to Saudi Gazette over phone, Mubarak said that Ahamed was always very keen to alleviate the suffering of people who are in distress. "He made direct interventions to help hundreds of expatriates who faced various sorts of problems and difficulties. I still recall several instances for this." The case of an Indian woman was the best example for this, he said. "While I was working at Dubai consulate, the woman approached me, seeking help to get her passport issued instantly so that she can go to India to attend the funeral of her father. I was not in a mood to believe her words that she had taken up this matter with Ahamed saab." "However, within five minutes I got a call from Ahamed saab and instructed me to facilitate her travel with issuance of the travel document. Ahamed saab was a very accessible person who knew the pain of the common men and worked hard to succor them and sort their problems out." Mubarak noted that Ahamed saab always lent a helping hand to not only Indians working in the Middle East region but also to Saudis who are in need of help. "He was the first person to come forward to help Saudis who met with any difficulties and problems in India," he said. Mubarak recalled that he had intimate relations with Ahamed saab for more than 12 years. "My first interaction with him was in Nov. 2004 during the private state funeral of Yasser Arafat held in Cairo. He was part of the high profile Indian delegation that participated in the ceremony. Being director of the cultural center at the Indian embassy in Cairo, I was in charge of handling the Indian delegation," he said. Later while working as head of India's Diplomatic Mission to Palestine during 2012-14, I saw Ahamed saab as the frequent visitor to Palestine. "He was always very supportive to the Palestinian cause. I coordinated spending $1 million provided by him during one of such visits as India's contribution to the Palestinians. Ahamed saab had a very close rapport with the Royal Family and the Saudi leadership. "His contributions were remarkable in streamlining and smoothening India's Haj operation," said Mubarak who served as Indian Haj consul for four years. Ahamed had the record of signing eight bilateral Haj agreements with the Saudi authorities. Md. Noor Rahman Sheikh, consul general of India, told Saudi Gazette that Ahamed saab wasa great person. "He was quite humble in his dealings with people around and was very clear in his mind that he should help people in need. I have had numerous interactions with him since I joined IFS in 2004, when he was minister of state for external affairs whether be in Amman, where I had my first posting, and in New Delhi during my second assignment as Undersecretary (West Asia & North Africa) as well as during my first posting in Jeddah as Haj consul and then as the consul general. "Last time, when he came to Jeddah for Umrah in November 2016, he fell ill and I visited him at King Fahd Hospital, Jeddah," Sheikh said. Ahamed became sick at Jeddah airport while going back to India after his last visit to the Kingdom. "Whenever he used to visit Jeddah, Makkah or Madinah, I was always awed by the large number of Indians who would come to meet him, mainly seeking help," the consul general said. "Ahamed saab had a wide range of contacts in West Asia/Middle East including Saudi Arabia. I have also been part of Indian Haj delegation when he was minister of state. He had a very good rapport with the Saudi Haj minister and other senior officials." "I have been encouraged to see that he used to take personal care of the Indian Haj volunteers and enabling their access to the Holy Sites by taking this issue with senior Saudi officials." "We are quite saddened at his passing away," Mubarak and Sheikh said while praying Almighty Allah to grant him the highest place in His Jannatul Firdous. The diplomats also recalled the contributions of Ahamed Sab in helping hundreds of thousands of Indians who were victims of huroob. Ahamed was part of the high level delegation sent by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to personally oversee the problems of nearly three million Indians during the amnesty announced by King Abdullah in 2013. His intervention was a big relief to hundreds of thousands of expatriates affected by implementation of Nitaqat Saudization program. C.K. Shakir, secretary of the Jeddah Central Committee of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center, an offshoot of Indian Union Muslim League and the largest expatriate organization in the Gulf, said that Ahamed saab's contributions toward legalizing the status of runaway (Huroob) workers were tremendous. "He was also instrumental in facilitating regulating travel documents of thousands of Indians through liberalizing rules in issuance of passports," he said adding that the intervention to get release of three Indian truckers kidnapped in Iraq was one of the examples for Ahamed saab's role in supporting the Indian expatriates who were in distress in any parts of the world.
