GOING HOME AFTER 20 LONG YEARS
FUJAIRAH — An ailing 79-year-old Indian teacher and her mentally-challenged son, 45, are all set to start life afresh after getting immigration fines of over Dh1 million waived off. Saira Saeed Ahmed Bazadani and her son Parvez Ahmed will be returning to India after 20 years. They stayed in the UAE illegally for over 14 years. The Consulate General of India in Dubai will issue two air tickets for the mother and son, and two more for those accompanying them.
FUJAIRAH — An ailing 79-year-old Indian teacher and her mentally challenged 45-year-old son, one of the first to avail amnesty in the UAE, can’t wait to live their life anew in India.
The 1939-born Saira Saeed Ahmed Bazadani and her son Parvez Ahmed, who have been living at the mercy of neighbours and social workers, got their Dh1 million immigration fines waived off at the amnesty centre of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) in Fujairah, on the second day of the amnesty initiative.
The documents are ready and the mother and son are set to travel in the coming days.
Saira, hailing from Pune, Maharashtra in India, will be taken, along with her son, to the Shanthi physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre, a shelter run by social worker Uma Preman in the south Indian state of Kerala,
Saira told Khaleej Times: “I am very grateful for the help extended to us, and I look forward to going back to India. We are returning to India almost after 20 years.”
Up until two years ago, the teacher would take tuitions for children to support herself and her son. She has taught in several schools in Fujairah such as Our Own English High School, Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School, as well as the Modern Indian School.
She was living comfortably, mostly, with the help received from a compatriot neighbour Saeed Hussain.
He said: “She used to teach my three children, and as she had trouble in travelling, I helped her and the family shift to a villa near my house.
Saira Saeed and parveez Ahmed
Their visa expired in 2005.”
Saira’s husband was a Pakistani engineer and owner of an AC repair workshop in Fujairah. He married her in 1976 when he visited Pune, and she moved to the UAE with her oldest son Parvez.
The mother of three has been living alone with her son since her husband’s death a year and a half ago.
“He left the UAE for good several years ago. But he would visit occasionally,” she added.
Meanwhile, Saira’s second son is outside the UAE, and her daughter is not in a position to take care of her mother and brother. “My health condition is very bad at the moment. I have arthritis and my son is taking care of me,” she added.
Since her retirement, the teacher has found it very hard to financially support herself and her son.
The Consulate-General of India in Dubai has extended its help and will issue four air tickets to the family for their return.
“Four tickets are being provided to this family. Two for mother and son, and two for people who will be accompanying them to Kerala,” explained Prem Chand, consul at the Consulate-General of India (CGI) for passport, attestation and community welfare.
The teacher’s condition came to light after the Indian Social Club (ISC) in Fujairah learnt of her plight and referred the case to Uma Preman, who established Santhi Medical Information Centre in 1997, and according to Uma, a majority of the donations to run the nonprofit centre comes from benefactors in the Middle East.
The centre provides patients with palliative care, physiotherapy, as well as psychotherapy, and according to Uma, a majority of the donations to run the non-profit centre comes from benefactors in the Middle East.
“We provide them with ayurveda as well as allopathy treatment. Doctors, including neurosurgeons, visit the centre, giving patients all kind of care,” added Uma.
Last month, Uma and social worker Nazeer Vatanapally repatriated Indian national Baij Nath Prajapathi, a worker who suffered a stroke and paralytic attack in March this year.