A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND, Marhoom 'Emirates' Abdul Khader
In the hot summer of Saudi Arabia back in 1985, I had landed in Riyadh during the month of May. Being away from my family for the first time onto a strange land far away was really worrying. The very next day an unknown group of Mangaloreans visited us at our camp which was far away from Riyadh city. A charming youngster was talking to everyone as if he knew them well. That was Abdul Khader. His confident smile made us feel that we have someone who cares for us. Others in the team were, Br Parvez Ali, Br Muhammad Belchar, Br Shamshuddin Mulki, Br Ahmed Padubidri and a few others. This team used to visit if any one lands in the region, to inquire about their wellbeing and to know about any difficulties people face and if they needed any assistance. In those days in Saudi Arabia, finding people from Mangalore wasn’t common, especially to seek help or assistance. Br Abdul Khader’s concern of "we do care for them as our own" really connected everyone to him.
Ever since that first visit, I had been in constant touch with him, almost on a daily basis. I would visit him at his office at King Faisal Foundation, which was the grievance reporting center during those days. He was a single man social organisation in those days when social organisations hardly existed. We used to gather on weekends at Euromarche, visit the Alkharj garden, travel together for Umrah, and these engagements made us feel like family. We used to visit RAKA camp in Dammam, and a couple of camps in Jubail and Jeddah. Sometimes I feel like during those days we were far better connected, through merely landline phones, than most are today with mobile phones and multiple social media apps.
A few years later, we started staying together at Hara, at a rented apartment (although we had our company accommodation) and this apartment was a shelter for many. Br Abdul Khader was well known as 'Emirates Khader', a name he got due to his earlier tenure in Dammam.
Many used to approach him for various reasons and mostly with issues related to conversation with their sponsors, Iqama issues, salary issues, lack of proper food, lack of bare minimum facilities, transfer of sponsorships, postal address to receive letters from home, coins to call home from telephone booth, travelling letter for umrah and other cities within Saudi Arabia to meet relatives, Chamber of commerce attestations, to transfer money back home, to get treatments at govt hospitals (there were no low budget Indian clinics during those days), to trace missing sponsor (literally needed to travel to lots of surrounding villages to trace without any proper contact numbers). His command on conversational Arabic has really helped thousands of people to communicate on various occasions. His undying confidence, strong communication skills and more importantly his time, was all well utilized to help others, going to any extent, anywhere, to help people. This beautiful character of his earned him the title of a brother in a strange land.
He may not be very rich financially, but was always there to REACH out to those who needed help. He went through lots of hardships and struggled in the later part of his life.
Gulf is a region where lakhs of youngsters from our region have sacrificed their youth, staying there for 30 to 40 years to support their families, be it getting their sisters married or to feed their families back home. They may smell good during their vacations, but the fact remains that they have squeezed their sweat in the hot deserts without proper food or facilities during those days. These days, most of them are back home after losing their jobs, most with zero bank balances even after working hard throughout their life. The consoling factor is that some of their educated children have replaced them in the Gulf.
The present generation may not know him very well but people living in Saudi Arabia during the 80s and 90s know him very well for his service of REACHING OUT THE DESERVING. In 1979 He started when he was in Governer's office and when he shifted to Riyadh in 1983 and then 2005 he moved to eastern province. Almost 40 years of relentless service he gave to deserving ones. I used to discuss with him whenever I was free at his KFF office about the overall development of the community. We really Brainstorm on what need to be done for empowerment to make really a respectful community. During those days though we hardly had wealthy individuals from our community, there was no jealousy, no rat race and no competition. Instead we enjoyed supporting each other, irrespective of our level of income, which also included many of our brothers who earned very little salaries.
Today , we have more multiple social organizations and hundreds of wealthy individuals. Much more funds are raised but somehow we lack strong coordination and support. Rather , we notice a keen struggle for fame, power and leadership. Factors such as Ego, Arrogance and blame games are rampant. Almost all places of worship are point of conflict, organisation has leadership conflicts and business establishments lack honesty, mutual trust and collaborative efforts.
My opinion is that during those days, with small earnings, people made better investments, but today, with far more resources, we collectively lack the vision for smart and long term investments for the betterment of the community, which is what will in fact benefit us in the hereafter. We are thinking of strong long term investments for our kith and kin but not so much for the community at large.
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PM Modi 'surrendered' before Trump, US trade deal will devastate farmers' livelihood: Cong
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "surrendered" before US President Donald Trump in agreeing to the India-US interim trade deal, which, it claimed, will “devastate” the livelihoods of crores of farmers across states.
Slamming the Centre, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said trade agreements should not become a path to slavery by “sacrificing a country's sovereignty”.
“Trade agreements are the path to economic progress. The very foundation of trade agreements is mutual public interest on equal terms. Trade agreements should not be a path to slavery by sacrificing a country's sovereignty. National and public interests cannot be sacrificed under the guise of trade agreements,” Surjewala said at a press conference.
Tagging Surjewala's statement at the presser, Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the former explained how this trade deal will "devastate" the livelihoods of millions of farmers across states.
"The prime minister has completely surrendered before President Trump - just as he did on May 10, 2025, when he abruptly and unexpectedly halted Operation Sindoor," Ramesh said on X.
Through the US-India trade agreement, the Modi government has sacrificed the interests of India's farmers and farms, Surjewala alleged at the presser.
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"India's energy security was openly compromised. Serious questions have been raised about India's digital autonomy and data privacy. Instead of standing firmly in defence of India’s interests, a helpless government compromised India's sovereignty and self-reliance,” he claimed.
People are asking whether it is a “mazboot sarkaar” (strong government) or "majboor sarkaar” (compelled government), an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” or “America-nirbhar Bharat”, he claimed.
Surjewala also said that importing American agricultural and food products into India's agricultural market is a "direct attack" on farmers' livelihoods.
"In the very first point of the February 6 Framework Agreement of the US-India trade deal, India agreed that it would open its market to US agricultural and food products without any import duty,” he said.
The question is if processed maize, sorghum, soybean, fruits and other products also come to India, won't they have a direct impact on the country’s biodiversity and seed purity, Surjewala asked.
Has the Modi government opened the doors for GM Crops in India through the back door, he asked.
The Congress leader also said that point 5 of the trade agreement clearly states that, considering America's concerns, India will remove its non-tariff trade barriers.
“America gives its farmers an annual subsidy of about Rs 1.45 lakh crore. In contrast, in India, a subsidy of Rs 6,000 is given per farmer family, but Rs 25,000 is taken back through expensive diesel, fertilisers, electricity, and pesticides.
“Despite this, Narendra Modi made an agreement with America that we will reduce farmers' subsidies and approve GM crops,” Surjewala said.
The Modi government has put India’s interests at stake in the trade deal with America, he alleged.
Three issues are most critical in this (deal) – agriculture, energy security and trade terms, he said.
Surjewala also alleged that the deal essentially amounts to "playing with India's energy security".
"On February 6, US President Trump wrote in the penalty tariff order: India has promised the United States that it will not buy crude oil from Russia. Trump also wrote: The United States will monitor whether India buys crude oil from Russia, directly or indirectly.
“If this happens, the penalty will be reimposed. In the fact sheet issued by the US president on February 9, the statement that India has promised not to buy crude oil from Russia was repeated," he said.
Between February 2022 and January 2026, India imported crude oil worth Rs 15.24 lakh crore from Russia and saved approximately Rs 1.81 lakh crore due to lower prices, he claimed.
"Now, on Trump's insistence, the Modi government will buy crude oil from the US and Venezuela, but the rates will not be cheap. In such a situation, my direct question is – isn't this playing with India's self-reliance?" Surjewala asked.
He said the main question is whether the trade agreement is based on equality or coercion.
“So, why is the Modi government agreeing to it? The country demands answers,” Surjewala said.
