JEDDAH — The selfless services rendered by the India Fraternity Forum (IFF) volunteers for this year's Haj have won accolades from several dignitaries who spoke at a function held at the Indian Consulate premises on Friday evening. Inaugurating the function, Consul General of India Faiz Ahmed Kidwai commended their services. “I could see the IFF volunteers, in their orange jackets, engaged in serving the pilgrims in every nook and corner of the tent city of Mina.” Kidwai said the IFF volunteers have become virtually a source of inspiration for expatriates from many other countries to actively take part in the volunteering service by deploying their community members to help pilgrims at the holy sites. “Thousands of guests of Allah not only from India but also from many other countries have been benefited from their selfless service. There was a great demand for the location map of the holy sites, prepared by IFF in line with the guidelines from the Indian consulate,” he said. In his speech, Indian Haj Consul Sheikh Mohammed Noor Rahman congratulated the IFF leaders for their active role in serving pilgrims at the holy sites along with their volunteers. “Their volunteer service was indeed a great blessing for thousands of pilgrims, especially the elderly, women and the sick; I personally witnessed the IFF volunteers in action round the clock basis,” he said. Mukhtar Al Kindi, an official in-charge of the Youth Team of World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), said the forum's volunteers have set an exemplary model for voluntary work in front of the people from other nations. “A number of Arab countries have started deploying volunteers this year in Mina thanks to the example set by IFF in previous years,” he said. Dr. Muneera Khaled Balahmar, director of Health Education Administration at the Ministry of Health, lauded the dedicated services of the IFF volunteers. She also recalled the outstanding services rendered by the IFF volunteers during the days of flood disaster that struck Jeddah earlier. Kidwai and Rahman distributed certificates to the volunteers of Students' Fraternity Forum. IFF President Ashraf Morayur presided over the function. He presented IFF's memento to Kidwai. Morayur said that there were 32 women volunteers and 24 students in the 1200-member IFF volunteer force. Several other prominent figures, including Abdul Khader Khan, president of Indian Pilgrim Welfare Forum (IPWF); Dr. Israrul Haq, economist at Batterji College; Saleem Qadri, secretary of IPWF; Aleem Khan Falaki, convener of Socio Reforms Forum; Shafeequrahman Shareef, managing director of Al Fazal International School and chairman of Advisory Board of IFF Haj Service; Mohammed Basahi, WAMY); Eng. Hassan Julaidan, Saudi Arabian Airlines; Sheikh Abdul Naser and Baraa Mustafa Al Ateeq, AlWatan; attended the occasion. The program began with a recitation of a few verses from the Qur'an by Muzammil Nazeer. IFF Secretary Muhammad Iqbal welcomed the gathering while Regional Coordinator E.M Abdulla gave the vote of thanks.
