Pakistani Twitter users ask Indian minister Sushma Swaraj for help

Dubai: Twitter users in Pakistan have tweeted a request to India’s Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. They were joining Pakistani wife, Maria Abdullah in her Twitter campaign for her husband Aleem Junejo to get to India for a lung transplant. Some even used the hashtag #HelpAleemgettoIndia.

Like many others, Twitter user @namakpaara_ posted: “@SushmaSwaraj please help save someone’s life. Maria’s husband has been sick for months and needs a visa for India to get a life-saving procedure.”

Tweep @Sitaraarshad wrote: “I know this brave lady and her husband. What a couple! I hope Indian authorities listen to their pleas and do a favour to Pakistan. We all look up to you. #beyondborders #IndiaPakistan #PeaceAndLove”

Indian Twitter users also joined in and tweeted to Swaraj, requesting her to look into the situation urgently.

It all started in July 2018, when Junejo fell ill. He was diagnosed with a lung infection that had reached the final stage. Junejo, a 34-year-old Pakistani banker, suffers from Kartagener’s syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, leading to recurrent chest and ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections.

He is in urgent need of a lung transplant for which the couple is seeking international help. If not treated on time, the disease is likely to result in a heart failure.

Maria Abdullah, in a Facebook post, shared details of her husband’s situation: “It was a lung infection and he was short of breath. His pulmonologist. Dr Tabish Rehman... said that due to his primary ciliary dyskinesia and dextrocardia, he has gradually developed bronchiectasis which has irreversibly damaged his lungs and he will be on O2 (oxygen) supply 24/7 till he gets for himself a new pair of lungs. He also warned us about his gradual heart failure. According to him and my google search, cardio-pulmonary transplant is not available in Pakistan yet. We had to look for international help.”

Abdullah zeroed down on India for a few reasons. She wrote: “It was cheapest in the world (we were not even able to afford that); we speak almost same languages; it was closest of all and, the quality of treatment was great.”

She started contacting people in India and got a call from Global hospital Chennai. She sent them all the reports and they confirmed that Junejo needed a transplant. They sent her a cost estimation document and Abdullah started her campaign to raise funds. She added: “Fortunately our organisations, colleagues, and friends helped us a lot and we were able to generate enough funds to leave for India.”

However, their visa application was rejected. According to Abdullah’s Facebook post: “The card on our passports read, ‘The Indian High Commission, Islamabad is not in the position to issue you the visa right now but you may apply again and your application will be considered without any prejudice’.”
Abdullah applied again the very next day, as they waited, she contacted TV channels to promote her story. She added: “Unfortunately, our media had something more important to cover... elections 2018.”

Two weeks later, Junejo received a call from Indian High Commission in Islamabad. The officer said they could not apply for a visa again: “as we are not allowed to get a medical visa if we are going for lungs transplant... [The officer] gave us a little room to contact Sushma Swaraj and get special permission.”

Abdullah (@Maria35752813) started a Twitter campaign to get Sushma Swaraj’s attention. She added: “In case we don’t get an Indian visa, we will have to look for a transplant in other countries but the cost will have to be covered as it is way expensive than in India.”

On November 15, Abdullah shared her story again and Twitter users have joined her.

@Arooshna tweeted: “@SushmaSwaraj please help @Maria35752813. Many of us are hoping and looking up to you, to get any help from you. There are many times when common people are hopeless. Please at least give her some advice...”