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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Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.

On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.

That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.

Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.

He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.

He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.

After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.

Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.

On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.

On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."

He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.

In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."