Abu Dhabi: India is known to have several languages, religions and cultures, so do the Indians in the UAE.
The Indian community in the capital will have a new venue to unite their diverse identities when the Indian President Pratibha Patil inaugurates the new building of Indian Islamic Centre (IIC) in Abu Dhabi.
"Although the centre has a religious name [Islamic] and members are predominantly Muslims, we are strictly functioning on the basis of India's strong secular values," they told Gulf News on Tuesday.
The Dh12 million new building is a milestone for the centre, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. Established in 1971, the centre has been working for communal harmony by involving all Indian religious communities in its activities, says P. Bava Haji, the president.
"We celebrate all important occasions of India and the UAE with the participation of all Indian religion communities and the UAE nationals as part of promoting Indo-Arab relations and communal harmony," he said.
It also recently conducted a conference on religious harmony, said Moidu Abdul Rahman, the general secretary of IIC. School pupils from every part of India regularly participate in the summer camps run by the organisation, he said.
Educational activities
Established since 1971, the centre also conducts cultural, religious and educational activities for its members and the general community at large. And its library and reading room have become a meeting point for Indians from all sections of the community. They come to read newspapers, periodicals and books.
It also offers a team to help in the event of the death of a community member, who will assist in sendign the body home.
Low fees for pupils
It also has a school offering low fees for pupils from middle income families in the community, continuing education courses in both Arabic and English, and computer education, said V. Mayan Kutty, educational secretary of the centre.
These activities are usually conducted at temporary caravan facilities and some have had to be discontinued due to recent construction of the new building. However they will soon be housed in a brand new building and will continue for the benefit of the community.
Milestone: Stone laid by Indira Gandhi
The foundation stone of the building was laid by the late Indira Gandhi, the former Indian Prime Minister in 1981, during her official visit to the UAE. The Abu Dhabi Government allotted the land, off Al Falah Street (known as Passport Road) for the centre in 1979. But the construction did not begin until 2008 due to a lack of funds.
Members were concerned about how to find funding for the building, which has to cater to the overall needs of the community, Bava Haji said.
A major milestone was achieved in 2008 when M.A. Yousuf Ali, the managing director of Emke Group, who is also the chief patron of the centre, took up the matter with the Abu Dhabi Government, which agreed to finance the building project to the tune of Dh 12 million. The Indian community will always be grateful to Abu Dhabi Government for providing land and funds to construct the facility , Haji said.
It is hoped Indian community in general will benefit from the auditoriums, the library and reading room, the health club and the computer lab in the Dh12 million building of 5,500 square feet.
"All the facility will be open for the entire community. The centre will charge a nominal fee only for using the facilities, just to meet the operational expenses," said officials, adding that the main auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,200. The two mini auditoriums have capacity of around 120 and 80.
The library and reading room has more than 2,000 books in English, Arabic and Malayalam, as well as several periodicals.
The computer lab has 16 new computers with LCD screens. The health club will also benefit from new equipment.
