Dubai gurdwara sends 1st chartered flight to Punjab to repatriate Indians

A gurdwara in Dubai has facilitated the first chartered flight to Punjab to repatriate 209 Indians stranded in the UAE, according to a media report.

The Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara arranged the flight with 209 passengers on board, which took off on Thursday from Dubai to Amritsar, the Gulf News reported.

The gurdwara authorities in a statement said that they were in the process of arranging more such flights to Amritsar in the coming days to facilitate the return of Indians stranded in the country due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The second flight is scheduled for June 27, two are in the pipeline, and we are working on six more flights in the coming weeks making sure they (stranded compatriots) reach home safely and at the earliest, the statement said.

We are thankful to the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the Indian Embassy, UAE for all their support to make this (the first charter flight) happen," it said.

Surender Singh Kandhari, chairman of the gurdwara, said that the gurdwara had been distributing meals to around 1,500 people, including blue collar workers, every day since March with the help of the Indian Consulate and volunteers.

This is our commitment towards the society, as it also reminds us of our shared responsibility to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves and the basic principles that bind people of different faiths together, he was quoted as saying in the report.