Skip to main content

Gujarat youth who cares two hoots for those criticising him for 'supporting' Muslims

Vyom Amin with at a unity rally 
By Mahesh Trivedi* 
Hatemongers have been misusing social media to hurl abuses on communities they dislike. But here is a young, highly-qualified Hindu Good Samaritan who has been silently doing humanitarian work through social media to give a one tight slap on the face of fanatics.
Meet Vyom Amin, a 29-year-old cybernaut and restaurateur from Gujarat capital Gandhinagar. His heart bleeds for the poor and needy, irrespective of their caste or community. Doing a yeoman’s service for the past six years, he last week turned a saviour for three pre-teen Muslim schoolgirls whose father Umar Qureshi had lost his driver’s job during the Covid-induced lockdown and was struggling to make even both ends meet.
On getting wind of Qureshi’s tale of woes and his inability to pay the fees of his three daughters, Amin, as usual, wasted no time in appealing to his generous friends for help through various social media platforms. Within a few hours, Rs 14,000 was collected and handed over to Qureshi much to the chagrin of frenetic Hindu netizens.
Blood disorder patient Fardeen with Amin
Recently, Amin, also a real estate investor whose father is a Class I officer in Gujarat government, learnt that Muskan Shaikh had cleared Class XII with flying colours but her cash-starved parents could fulfil her dream to join a stenography coaching class in Gandhinagar. The young do-gooder swung into action on the social media and, lo and behold, within just one day, his friends as well as other kind-hearted strangers donated Rs 20,000 which was paid as fees for Muskan’s shorthand course.
In yet another case not long ago, Amin also rushed to the rescue of Vadodara’s rickshaw driver Yakub Multani whose 12-year-old son Fardeen was suffering from a serious blood disorder and had to be taken all the way to Ahmedabad now and then for free treatment and medicines. Told of Multani’s helplessness in commuting between the two cities during the lockdown, Amin passed round the hat in the social media and within two hours, Rs 10,000 was deposited in Multani’s bank account.
Amin paid fees of 3 sisters
Even earlier, when Fardeen urgently needed blood, Amin and his friends organised camps for five days in Vadodara and themselves also donated blood, collecting 85 bottles of blood to save the boy’s life.
When his Muslim friend Riaz Khan recently told him that 48-year-old Yasinkhan Khokher was stabbed and looted by thieves in Radhanpur in northern Mehsana district, and was gasping for breath in hospital after the murderous assault, Amin and his friends quickly collected Rs 14,000 and paid the victim’s medical bills.
A soft-spoken, self-effacing Amin, an engineering degree holder with a Masters in Public Administration, said that he was only doing his duty as a human being but more people should come forward for this noble cause and promote communal amity instead of spreading hatred through social media.
Leading communal unity rallies with Hindu and Muslim students, even as working to convince poverty-stricken parents of child labourers to send their children to school, Amin, along with his eager-beaver friends, never misses an opportunity to do his damnedest to help people in distress.
He saw to it that a down-at-heel slumdweller’s 12-year-old daughter with a fractured leg was able to walk again after six months, an old two-wheeler was donated to a brilliant Class XII girl who had lost her father, and a truckload of household goods was delivered to poor villagers in Banaskantha district.
“When some genuine person needs help, we should immediately provide succour without knowing whether the needy person is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Dalit or a Christian,” sums up Amin who cares two hoots for those who criticise him for supporting Muslims.
---
*Senior journalist based in Ahmedabad. A version of this article was first published in Clarion India

Comments

TRENDING

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Where’s the urgency for the 2,000 MW Sharavati PSP in Western Ghats?

By Shankar Sharma*  A recent news article has raised credible concerns about the techno-economic clearance granted by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for a large Pumped Storage Project (PSP) located within a protected area in the dense Western Ghats of Karnataka. The article , titled "Where is the hurry for the 2,000 MW Sharavati PSP in Western Ghats?", questions the rationale behind this fast-tracked approval for such a massive project in an ecologically sensitive zone.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

Structural retrogression? Steady rise in share of self-employment in agriculture 2017-18 to 2023-24

By Ishwar Awasthi, Puneet Kumar Shrivastav*  The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017 to provide timely labour force data. The 2023-24 edition, released on 23rd September 2024, is the 7th round of the series and the fastest survey conducted, with data collected between July 2023 and June 2024. Key labour market indicators analysed include the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR), which highlight trends crucial to understanding labour market sustainability and economic growth. 

Venugopal's book 'explores' genesis, evolution of Andhra Naxalism

By Harsh Thakor*  N. Venugopal has been one of the most vocal critics of the neo-fascist forces of Hindutva and Brahmanism, as well as the encroachment of globalization and liberalization over the last few decades. With sharp insight, Venugopal has produced comprehensive writings on social movements, drawing from his experience as a participant in student, literary, and broader social movements. 

Authorities' shrewd caveat? NREGA payment 'subject to funds availability': Barmer women protest

By Bharat Dogra*  India is among very few developing countries to have a rural employment guarantee scheme. Apart from providing employment during the lean farm work season, this scheme can make a big contribution to important needs like water and soil conservation. Workers can get employment within or very near to their village on the kind of work which improves the sustainable development prospects of their village.

'Failing to grasp' his immense pain, would GN Saibaba's death haunt judiciary?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The death of Prof. G.N. Saibaba in Hyderabad should haunt our judiciary, which failed to grasp the immense pain he endured. A person with 90% disability, yet steadfast in his convictions, he was unjustly labeled as one of India’s most ‘wanted’ individuals by the state, a characterization upheld by the judiciary. In a democracy, diverse opinions should be respected, and as long as we uphold constitutional values and democratic dissent, these differences can strengthen us.

94.1% of households in mineral rich Keonjhar live below poverty line, 58.4% reside in mud houses

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Keonjhar district in Odisha, rich in mineral resources, plays a significant role in the state's revenue generation. The region boasts extensive reserves of iron ore, chromite, limestone, dolomite, nickel, and granite. According to District Mineral Foundation (DMF) reports, Keonjhar contains an estimated 2,555 million tonnes of iron ore. At the current extraction rate of 55 million tonnes annually, these reserves could last 60 years. However, if the extraction increases to 140 million tonnes per year, they could be depleted within just 23 years.