Several volunteers helped the 300 Indian nationals who were starving and stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) following the closure of Indian borders to Malaysian flights due to Covid-19.
Pertubuhan Perpaduan Puratchi Malaysia, Persatuan Kecemasan Sukarelawan Malaysia, Klinik Kiran, Malaysian Telugu Foundation and a few Gudwaras offered to help ferry and house the stranded Indian citizens. Apart from that, lawyers Mehnagha Letchumanan, Low Tze Ken, Thenish Chandra, and social activist Rakvinder Kaur Sadi Singh have also pooled resources to help them.
Hana Welfare Association, Mercy Malaysia and the Rotary Club of Subang also joined in when the plea for help was made, by providing items including hand sanitisers.
Meanwhile, local entertainment company Malik Streams Corporation Sdn Bhd provided buses to ferry the stranded Indians out of the airport to temporary accommodations.
“The volunteers associated a few volunteers to support the group, incorporating two gurdwaras in Puchong and Subang, who sent in nourishment and essential needs,” said lawyer Dinesh Muthal.
Mehnagha also drafted and sent a letter to the Indian government, requesting for them to send a humanitarian flight to fly their citizens back home.
“My friends Umagandhan Krishnan and Poovan Chandrika went to check out the situation at the airport first. These Indian citizens made up mostly of women and children were in the airport for almost four days, not knowing their fate and lacking basic necessities,” Dinesh said.
“40 of them are staying in Tatt Khalsa Diwan Sabha, 27 more are staying in Puchong Gurdwara, another 20 are at the Telugu Association, five are staying in a hostel and 15 more are at the Indian Embassy building in Lebuh Ampang, which has been made into a makeshift hostel for them,”
“The rest are staying with either their families or relatives’ houses in Malaysia and some are staying outside temporarily until they received further news. Some were able to afford hotel stays so they went there,” Dinesh said.
He extended his gratitude to Malaysians who stepped up after the plea for help.
“I am so very proud of everyone. In times of need, we get to witness how true Malaysian hospitality looks like, and show it to the rest of the world,” he added.
