Amnesiac Indian expat, 87, stranded in Sharjah, flies home to Kashmir ahead of Eid Al Fitr

Sharjah: An 87-year-old Indian expat, who had been stranded in the UAE for long after losing his memory, returned to his hometown in Kashmir on Wednesday morning, thanks to the joint efforts of the Indian Association Sharjah (IAS), the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the UAE authorities.

Rashid Anwar Dhar was escorted home for a special family reunion ahead of the Eid Al Fitr festival by an IAS volunteer, Prabhakaran Payyannur.

It is not immediately clear exactly how long he had been stranded in the UAE.

“He was found abandoned in front of the IAS office in January, 2024,” said Nissar Thalangara, president of IAS.

“His condition was heartbreaking, but with the support of the Indian Consulate, we were able to locate his family and ensure his safe return,” he said.

Thalangara said IAS managing committee members and PRO Sreehari Kochumon worked for several months to trace his family while the association’s staff members Mohammed Musthafa and Aimon Musharaf took care of him.

“We took up his case with the consulate when we held an Open House of the mission to address community issues. The Consul General of India in Dubai Satish Kumar Sivan, Deputy Consul General Yatin Patel and Labour Consul Pabitra Kumar Majumder offered us full support.”

He also thanked the UAE authorities who assisted with Dhar’s treatment for some months before his brother’s details in a remote village in Srinagar were recently found out.

Though he could not remember the details of his family members or home address, Dhar claimed that he was a doctor from Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities are yet to verify this.

Dhar also told community volunteers that he had married and had a son before leaving Kashmir, but eventually remarried another woman here. According to him, it was after the passing of his wife here that his business in Ras Al Khaimah went bust and he became ill and stranded.

Though none of this could be immediately verified, officials were able to retrieve information about his passport issued in 1989 which helped the consulate issue an Emergency Certificate (EC) to facilitate his travel back home.

Commonly known as an out-pass, the EC is a temporary travel document, which looks like an Indian passport in white colour, issued to those who do not possess a valid passport, for one time travel back home.

Sree Prakash, IAS secretary, said everyone associated with Dhar’s case had been grateful for doing a noble deed in the holy month of Ramadan. “This is a story of love, kindness and camaraderie that goes beyond borders and faiths. We are extremely happy that he will be home for this Eid,” he said.