Man breaks Ramadan fast to save thalassemic child
Patna, May 24: A Muslim in Bihar chose humanity over religious customs, broke his Ramadan fast to donate blood to an eight-year-old Hindu thalassemic boy and saved his life.
Jawed Alam on Tuesday donated blood to Rajesh Kumar in Gopalganj district, a district health official said.
The boy was rushed to the emergency of Sadar hospital by his father. The patient complained of uneasiness and weakness, and required immediate blood transfusion.
There was no blood matching Rajesh's blood group available in the blood bank. They said it would take at least two-to-three days to arrange it.
The boy's condition deteriorated quickly. His father had travelled some 200 km from the Kuchaikote area and was fast losing hope as he waited in the corridors of the blood bank.
It was then that a hospital sweeper and cleaner, informed Anwar Hussain, a member of District Blood Donor Team (DBDT) about the child.
Hussain requested his friend Jawed Alam, an active member of DBDT to rush to Sadar hospital.
"When my friend Anwar requested me to donate blood to a seriously ill thalassemia patient, I politely informed him that I was observing Ramzan fast.
"But he convinced me to arrive and consulted doctors. At first even the doctors refused my offer as I was fasting," Jawed said.
"They agreed only after I took their advice, broke my fast and consumed fruit juice and some solids," the young Muslim man in his 30s said.
He said: "My religion teaches me to help a fellow human first, so I broke my fast and donated blood to save little Rajesh. Islam preaches that humanity is bigger than everything."
Thalassemia is a blood disorder and a thalassemic patient needs blood transfusion after every three-to-four weeks.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
