Dr.Sujoy's Spirit of Giving Without The Thought of Getting

It was such a kind gesture of Dr.Sujoy Bhattacharjee to have offered free consultation, for four consecutive days, to more than 300 patients in Khartoum. This is how the International Orthopedic Surgeon from India spent his Christmas in Sudan.

Dr.Sujoy went to South Pont School in Kolkata, graduated in Medicine from Silchar Medical College, and did his Master’s in Surgery from Gwalior Medical College and then specialized in Joint Replacement Surgery in Ohio, USA; Germany and Australia. Presently he is attached to a couple of hospitals in New Delhi and Erbil, Iraq.

In these four days from 24^th to 27^th December he examined more than 300 patients from 9am to 5pm without any break. The patients ranged from Pediatrics to Geriatrics. Disorders ranged from fracture related overlapping bones to knees needing replacement.

Among these patients was Khalid Eiman, 3 years, who had Congenital Talipes Equino Varvs (CTEV) a congenital deformity of the foot when the child walks on the outer side of the soul and toes. Dr.Sujoy had operated on Khalid in India and wanted to remove the JESS fixation in Khartoum. It will not be out of place to mention that JESS technique (Joshi External Stabilising System-JESS) is a pride of India invented by the visionary hand surgeon Dr.B.B.Joshi. His generosity is exemplified by the fact that he chose not to patent the JESS fixator, so that it could be made available to a larger section of the medical fraternity and it can be kept affordable for the masses.

I noticed that whenever the child Khalid saw Dr.Sujoy he started to cry. Dr.Sujoy insisted on general anaesthesia to remove the fixator, but due to unknown reasons the Anesthetist did not turn up which left the mother in tears because Khalid’s fixator could not be removed. Dr.Sujoy left for India the same night.

I had the pleasure of showing Dr.Sujoy the confluence of the two Niles – Blue and White.

The Doctor Who Is Also A Poet

The most popular sport in Sudan is Football. Sudan has a rich football history in Africa and has been  champion of Africa Cup of Nations in 1970. The two biggest football teams are Al-Merrikh and Al-Hilal. This reminds me of arch rivals Mohan Bagan and East Bengal both from Kolkata back home in India.

In Sudan one of your identities are either you are a supporter of Hilal or Merrikh. I am a fan of Merrikh mainly because the jersey colours are same as my favourite East Bengal. I have watched Merrikh play Hilal twice in Omdurman stadium. Dr. Omer Mohamed Khalid a famous Chest Physician in Omdurman, the old capital of Sudan, is a staunch supporter of Merrikh. He once met the President of Sudan, Field Marshal Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir. He knew that the President is a supporter of Al-Hilal. Dr.Omer asked him why he was wearing blue in support of Hilal. He said “You are the President and you should be neutral”. The President replied to him saying that once Merrikh becomes a champion the blue he is wearing will change to orange. This never happened even though Merrikh has become the champion club of Sudan.

Dr. Omer Mohamed Khalid is also a poet. He wraps up his regular health shows in popular Blue Nile TV with his own poem. He is a celebrity thus I deserve a picture with the tall personality.

Mohyeldin to head the Sudanese Indian Friendship Association

Sudanese Indian Friendship Association ( SIFA ) is made up of Sudanese people who graduated from Indian Universities. Whether it is from Madras, Pune, Nagpur, Baroda, Jabalpur or Hyderabad all the Sudanese Alumni from any of these Universities are members of SIFA. On Saturday 13^th December an election was held to elect the new President of SIFA under the guidance of Council for International Peoples Friendship. There were 350 members present. Moulana Abdel Bashit Abdel Majid former Education and Tourism Minister of Sudan represented the Council and set the guidelines. He insisted that the members of SIFA should be comprised of 70% Sudanese and rest 30% by Indians.

Ambassador of India H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma was present and addressed the large gathering of Sudanese people who have been educated in India. His Excellency shared that every year 250 scholarships were awarded to Sudanese students to study in Indian Universities. Moreover 2500 students went to India every year under self- financing programs. The Ambassador was pleased to announce that Nuclear Medicine will be a new subject offered to Sudan. He added that SIFA has played a positive role in increasing trade relations between the two countries which was 1.3 billion US$ and is slated at 1.7billion US$ at the end of this year’s financial year ending in March’15. While he said that the Embassy of India represents the Government of India he also added that the Mission was for the people both Indian and Sudanese.

The outgoing President of SIFA Yousrie Burai thanked everyone for their cooperation and support and the newly elected President Mohyeldin Mohyeldin Abdeltam promised to do his best in creating a favourable atmosphere in all fields between India and Sudan. A successful businessman Mohyeldin formed a core committee of 20 members. Dr.Anil Mithani President of the Omdurman Indian Community is also in this core committee of SIFA.

Photographs of Psoriasis

As Pharmaceutical Marketing Professionals, we serve the Medical Fraternity with our offerings. We do care for the patients for they are our end users or consumers. Some companies have organized system of keeping track of their patients in a Direct To Consumer (DTC) communication.

I recently had a new kind of encounter with a patient. A leading Dermatologist requested me to take pictures of his patient for a ‘Before and After ’ effect. The patient is suffering from Psoriasis.

I was wondering that this patient would have to live with this chronic skin condition for life. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease and cannot be cured. It can be managed by slowing the process and keeping it under control. Psoriasis develops when the patient’s immune system sends wrong signals which tells the skin cells to grow very fast. But Psoriasis is not contagious-it does not spread by touch. I pray for the patient and hope that next time when I am called to take pictures after few months of treatment I find him well recovered.

Indian Jewel in Sudan's Crown

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a Government of India company is categorized as ‘Maharatna’ company which means it belongs to the top jewel group of public sector enterprises. BHEL is entrusted as the EPC (Engineering-Procurement-Construction) contractor by the Ministry of Electricity, Government of Sudan to execute the 4X125MW Power Project at Kosti, Sudan named as Um Dabakir Power Station. This contract was signed by Eng. Makkawi Mohamed Awad the then Managing Director of NEC who is presently the Minister of Petroleum, Government of Sudan. The Consultant retained by the Sudanese Government for this project is Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG of Stuttgart, Germany. This was reported as the single largest export order secured by BHEL worth 457.5 million USD for setting up a 4x125MW (500MW) Crude Oil fired thermal power plant in Sudan. Government of India had extended a concessional line of credit of 350 million USD through EXIM Bank of India.

The BHEL project near Rabak at White Nile State is centrally located 320 km south of Khartoum with the White Nile flowing nearby. Mr. Rana Basu General Manager of BHEL, who has been at the helm of affairs since the inception of the project, has undertaken a herculean task in coordinating Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).  This plant is a strategic project designed to supply power to Southern Sudan, Darfur and Khartoum ring. The crude oil was supposed to come from South Sudan, in turn to fire the boilers at the power plant. The main setback of supply of fuel happened ever since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011.There were delays in transportation of materials manufactured by BHEL in India to Kosti. BHEL has appointed Indian contractors for the construction of the Kosti plant. Till few months back there were almost 2000 Indian personnel including workers engaged at the site. Today the number has reduced to 1000. Mr. Rana Basu along with their Site Manager Mr. Asim Sur take pride in saying that today three of the four units have been commissioned with relentless and sleepless hard working days and nights by BHEL construction team of 45 Engineers and they will be ready with the fourth unit for completion of the project by March 2015.

This writer recently visited the plant and was astonished with the mighty plant as you can see in these pictures. A matter of pride for every Indian is that the huge plant is designed in India and made of materials and equipment manufactured by BHEL in India. In other words, every piece of steel in this gigantic plant is Indian.

The raw water intake channel constructed by BHEL at the White Nile is very picturesque especially at sunset. It is an 800 meters long & 12 meters deep channel built to feed water from White Nile for the Power Plant. The water reservoir has a capacity of 90000 tons. This water is treated and demineralized so that it does not damage the turbines. This treated water is pumped into the boilers to generate steam and activate the turbines. There are four massive turbines each capable of generating 125 MegaWatts of electricity. Amazingly, all the activities, pathways and dynamics of each unit are controlled centrally in a control room by the click of a mouse. This speaks of the state of art technology in this project.

Dr. Mudawi Abdelkarim Musa Projects Director of Sudanese Thermal Power Generating Co.Ltd (erstwhile NEC) is a happy man today. He is grateful to BHEL for his learning experience with the project and loves India for the work ethics, ingenuity and culture. He said that the Kosti Thermal Power Project is a testimony to the strong bilateral relations between India and Sudan.

 

If walls could speak...

The present palace as you can see from the Blue Nile used to be the Governor-General’s palace. General Charles George Gordon who was the then Governor General, was decapitated on the steps of a stairway in the northwestern corner of this very palace. With the Mahdist revolt the British had decided to abandon Sudan. But General Gordon would not give up. The Mahdi had issued orders to prevent the General being killed, but unfortunately two days before his 52nd birthday, on 26^th January 1885, General Gordon was beheaded. The motley rescue expedition arrived on 28^th January 1885, two days too late.

The Meeting ‘Baad Al Eid’ To Never Happen

I used to meet him in many forums. Doctors’ conferences, Press Conferences, Tennis Tournaments. Latif Joseph Sabag was one of the founder members of Umma Party. He was also active with the Sudanese National Society of the Deaf. He used to write about many countries in his column ‘I’m Sudanese’. He had asked me to take his profile picture. He liked it and used it in his column. Before Eid he called me saying that he wanted to meet me. I said we will ‘Baad Al Eid’. But I’m saddened to say the meeting will never happen now. He succumbed to a heart attack on the second day of Eid. May his soul rest in peace. I pray for his family members to get the strength to cope with the loss.

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi’s Dream on His Birthday

“Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt of an India which was not only free but also clean and developed. Mahatma Gandhi secured freedom for Mother India. Now it is our duty to serve Mother India by keeping it neat and clean. I take this pledge that I will remain committed and devote time for this.

I will devote 100 hours per year that is two hours per week to voluntary work for cleanliness and devote time for this. I will neither litter nor let others litter. I will initiate the quest for cleanliness with myself, my family, my locality, my village and my work place. I believe that the countries of the world that appear clean are so because their citizens don’t indulge in littering nor do they allow it to happen.

With this firm belief, I will propagate the message of Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission in villages and towns. I will encourage 100 other persons to take this pledge which I am taking today. I will endeavor to make them devote their 100 hours for cleanliness.

I am confident that every step I take towards cleanliness will help in making my country clean”.

This was the pledge that millions of Indians read on Gandhi’s birthday 2^nd October, as the new Indian Government’s campaign for a ‘Clean India’ This is an initiative taken by the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi.

On 2^nd October, Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday was celebrated at the Embassy of India, Khartoum. The Ambassador of India H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma first garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and then read out the above pledge which was followed by the Indian Community. Then the Blood Donation Camp was opened where both ladies and men from the Indian Community and officials from Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs donated blood. The First Lady, Ambassador’s wife Mrs. Gunjan Verma was the first to donate blood. A few more ladies donated blood. Later the Ambassador donated blood.  A total of 33 units of blood were collected which will save the lives of almost 100 children at the Omdurman Hospital.

When the Queen bites in Khartoum

Indian Expatriates in Sudan may have an impression that since we have had malaria back home once or more than once, we are immune to malaria in Sudan. This may be a misconception. Here is a case of a couple who has been struck by malaria even after a decade’s healthy living in Khartoum. You may think that you have had flu or influenza or viral fever but it may not be so. Don’t forget the rains have caused water logging in your neighbourhood which is ideal for the breeding of mosquitoes. You may have been bitten by femme fatale- the female anopheles mosquito. It is this bite that transmits the malarial parasites. Your Blood Film Test for Malaria Parasite may be negative but the symptoms of intermittent fever with shivering and vomiting may persist. This is when you should insist on the confirmatory Immuno Chromatographic Test (ICT) for Malaria and to your surprise it may give a positive result. Once you are confirmed to have malaria, the treatment in Khartoum, Sudan is not like what is back home. It is the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria (the more dangerous type). Physicians don’t take a chance here even if your Blood Film Test shows that you have trophozoites (feeding stage) of Plasmodium Vivax (the common less harmful bug that causes malaria). Well this is of empirical value which comes through experience that there is every possibility of mixed infestation of both Plasmodium Vivax (less dangerous parasite) Plasmodium Falciparum ( near fatal parasite). If you are an adult you need to take eight injections of Artemether 80mg. First day 2 injections (12 hourly) followed by once daily total of eight. The injections are to be taken on your buttocks and make sure you are in safe hands with gloves and disposable syringes. On the day of the last injection you need to take three tablets of Sulphadoxine + Pyrimethamine, popularly known as Fansidar tablets, after dinner. It may not be available in the pharmacies but it will be available with 6 tablets of Artesunate. The Artesunate has already been administered through intramuscular injections. Now one needs to consume only the three white tablets in the pack.

If you think that eight injections and 3 tablets have taken care of all the malarial parasites, again you may be mistaken. There may be some hypnozoites- sleeping bugs comfortably sheltered in your cozy liver. Most of the relapse of malaria occurs when these dormant parasites wake up and start feeding on our red blood cells. Primaquine 15mg tablets are to be taken once a day for 14 days. Now Primaquine tablets are not available in Sudan. It will be a good idea to get them next time when you are in India.

During these days eat light which you can digest easily. Drink a lot of fruit juice but avoid extra sugar.

One has already lost at least a week’s working days. But you are still drained out of energy because these malarial parasites have literally destroyed your red blood cells. You need to administer haematinics- medicines that help you build blood.

Don’t keep your doors or windows open and use mosquito repellents at home. You will never realize when the queen mosquito comes and kisses you. Keep them away and stay safe.

The above piece is no prescription for malaria. It is only a guideline from practical experience and the dosages given above are only for adults not children. Please consult your Doctor whenever you feel that the female anopheles mosquito has touched you. Keep safe.

SIFA is Sudanese Alumni of Indian Universities

There are about 30,000 Sudanese who have studied in Indian Universities and at any given point of time there are 4000 students studying in different parts of India in different streams and different Universities. Sudanese Indian Friendship Association (SIFA) is an officially recognized body in Khartoum for the alumnus of Indian universities. It has an office building which has been fondly named as Taj Mahal and has around 1481 members.

Yousri Burei is the Chairman of SIFA. Among the various activities carried out by SIFA, they recently organized a symposium titled ‘Democracy in India’ in which the Ambassador of India spoke at length about the constituency and the practice of Democracy in India.

As the Chairman , Yousri Burei has been shouldering great responsibility of SIFA. His simplicity and sincerity is appreciated by the members. In this picture you can see Yousri Burei shouldering the famous rock of Mahabalipuram near Chennai in India. Yousrie had studied in Pune, but as the Chairman of SIFA has to do the balancing act with members who studied in different parts of India. This picture with him and the balancing rock is symbolic and significant. 

e2e presents 'Business Strategy for Startups'

In Marketing we have read about B2B and B2C. Now, what is E2E? Well, it could be Exchange to Exchange or Engineer to Engineer. But ‘Education to Employment’ is just amazing and so meaningful. E2E - a group founded by Omer Alimam organized a workshop named ‘Business Strategy for Startups’ at Faisal Cultural Centre, Riyadh, Khartoum on Saturday 24^th Aug’14. The speaker was Sammy Musa MBA from Manchester Business School. Sammy was born in Sudan but bred in UK for the last 30 years. His English accent says it all. He returned to Khartoum in 2007 as Quality Manager at DAL Dairy Factory. Soon he was Supply Chain Manager, two years later Strategic Projects Manager and in 2012 he was promoted as Deputy General Manager. Sammy started his career as Factory Manager in UK in 2000.

In his presentation Sammy interacted with the audience and made them raise hands and asked questions to drive home the meaning of Entrepreneur, who starts a business, why one starts a business, the types of business, steps to process the business idea, business entry strategies and the steps to start a business. The Q&A session was held for 40 minutes and the audience of about 100 people comprising students, entrepreneurs and professionals, took home the  message that if one needs to be independent, an achiever, is opportunistic, innovative , proactive, self confident and is a calculated risk taker, then he or she can start a business. If you want to assess your entrepreneurship skills click:

http://www.bdc.ca/EN/advice_centre/benchmarking_tools/Pages/entrepreneurial_self_assessment.aspx

Indian Ambassador Visits Sudan Film Factory

The Ambassador of India to Sudan H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma visited several factories in Sudan in the recent past. Steel, sugar, plastics, textile and pharmaceuticals to name only a few.

On 19^th August’14, Ambassador Verma visited a unique factory of its kind- Sudan Film Factory. This visit was in response to an invitation from Talal Afifi Curator and Coordinator of Sudan Film Factory. Along with him were young film makers of Sudan namely Mohamed Hanafi, Areeg Tayseer Zarrouq and Mohamed Subahi. The meeting lasted for over an hour and Talal described it as an exchange of passion and culture between Sudan and India.

Talal Afifi introduced Sudan Film Factory as an independent non-profit organization offering a platform for training and networking of young film makers with a focus to rebuild relations with Africa and Asia.

H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma discussed with the team present on various aspects like providing training from Indian experts under the Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme with scholarships. He spoke of Film and Television Institute, Pune which offers courses on Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design, Art Direction, Acting, Screen Play, Animation and all aspects of film making. The other topics of discussion were workshops in Sudan by experts from the Indian film industry; hosting of an Indian film festival in Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri; refurbishment of local theatres with the help of Indian expertise.

This writer was very pleasantly surprised to learn that the Sudanese film makers knew of the great Indian film maestro and Oscar Awardee Satyajit Ray and were delighted with the offer made by the writer to share his film collection with them.

True to his words the Ambassador while in the meeting called up a promising young film director in India who was very interested in this project in Sudan and so in the near future it is very likely we will hear, “Lights, Camera, Action!” heralding a new phase of active India Sudanese cultural collaboration.

Janmashtami celebrations in Omdurman

Eight is the key number. Lord Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and was born on the eighth day of the Shravan month, which is also known as Ashtami. The famous Dwarkadheesh Temple in Mathura, which is believed to be the birth place of Lord Krishna, is beautifully decorated with flowers on this day as thousands of devotees plunge into the temple to offer their prayers to the lord. The deity is bathed with milk, honey, curd and ghee on the day of Janmashtami that last for half an hour.

Janmashtami is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. The Indian Gujarati community of Omdurman, a Diaspora which has a history of almost 170 years in Sudan, also celebrates Krishna Janmashtami. This year the altar of Lord Krishna was very well decorated. After the prayers the children of the community performed dances to depict the life of Krishna. This was followed by Dahi Handa , an earthen pot filled with buttermilk is tangled at a particular height. A human pyramid was formed by young men in order to break the earthen pot . Dahi Handa is celebrated to mark the playful nature of Lord Krishna as he steals butter from his gopis (milkmaids). Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of India had prohibited children below the age of 12 from participating in Dahi Handi as they form huge human pyramids which has often turned fatal.

Indians in Khartoum celebrate 68th Independence Day

As across the globe, patriotic fervor gripped the Indian community in Sudan to celebrate India’s 68^th Independence Day. On 15^th August’14 at 9 am, the Ambassador of India to Sudan H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma unfurled the Indian National Flag at India House, followed by the singing of the National Anthem. His Excellency addressed a large gathering of 250 members of the Indian community. Ambassador Verma read out excerpts from President’s speech and concluded sharing that a nation is very young at 68. India has the will, energy, intellect, values and unity to claim the 21^st century. The vision to win the battle of freedom from poverty is set; the journey will seem formidable only to those without conviction. As an old saying goes, success is born of action.

After the speech the national day was celebrated with a cultural programme participated by children and adults from the community which not only spoke of the sacrifices made by India’s freedom fighters but also showcased the unity in diversity as you can see in these pictures, which is the social fabric of India.

Launching a Brand in Sudan

When I asked him whether he is coming for the flag hoisting at 9 am on 15th August, a Friday, he said he would be working till 4am in the morning being  a Thursday and might find it difficult to attend. Subhan Masood Ahmed has been working very hard as the Brand Ambassador for Chicano.Their first restaurant in Kafouri is doing very well . I love the spicy chicken broast with garlic sauce. The added attraction is the Jungle Zone - a safe play area for children.They have plans to expand with more branches in Khartoum soon. Masood originally from Bangalore, India comes to Sudan with a rich experience of 15 years with KFC in KSA. We welcome Masood on behalf of the Indians in Sudan and wish him a successful venture in Sudan.

Kullo Sanna Wa Inta Tayeb

A Sudanese journalist interviewed the Ambassador of India H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma at an Iftar and wanted to know about Iftars in India. The Ambassador shared that Iftars in India were more of a homely affair which included friends from all religions. The most popular Indian dishes during Iftar are Koftas, Kababs, Biryanis and Firni (pudding) . His Excellency was then asked what was his favourite Sudanese dish, to which he remarked Aseeda and Omali (bread pudding).

On Thursday, 24^th July’14,the Ambassador and his wife Mrs. Gunjan Verma visited the patients in the Medical ward of Khartoum Teaching Hospital and distributed food to break the fast for 80 patients including the hospital staff. Dr.Hany Gaafar Eltom Zeyad, an active member of the Sudanese Indian Friendship Association remarked that this was a very kind gesture from the Indian Ambassador.

Today is Eid-ul-Fitr and I have the pleasure of wishing H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma a Very Happy Birthday. Remarkable coincidence isn't it?

Symposium in Khartoum on Democracy in India

Council for International Peoples Friendship, Sudanese Indian Friendship Association and AlZaiem AlAzhari University jointly organized a symposium at the University hall in Khartoum (North), Bahri on Monday 9^th June’14. The title of the symposium was ‘Democracy in India’ and the speaker was none other than the Ambassador of India to Sudan His Excellency Sanjay Kumar Verma.

The Ambassador started with the definition of Democracy as given in the preamble of the Indian Constitution which is Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic India. Many misunderstand Socialist as Communist but here it means equality of resources and wealth. Secular in India means all inclusive. The Ambassador endorsed the point made by the announcer Prof. Abdelgadir Hamid AlFadil to explain India’s secularism by saying that India is Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Parsi. Democracy in India also means Justice (not to be mistaken for judiciary). It is social, economic and political justice which means equality of status, opportunities; liberty of thoughts, expression, belief, faith and worship. The Ambassador gave an example that in India people can stand up in a corner and speak of non governance without being invalidated.

Mr.Verma spoke about the structure of the Parliament, the functioning of the Election Commission. It was interesting to learn that 64% of the voting population (840 million) is below the age of 30. This makes India the youngest country in the world. While talking about the process of elections the Ambassador mentioned that the first election in Sudan was conducted under the guidance of Sukumar Sen an Election Commissioner from India. The recent elections held in India were the first time in the world with 100% usage of Electronic Voting Machines. These machines replaced trillion plus pages of paper which was environment friendly and the results were announced faster. While responding to a journalist from a local newspaper in the symposium, Ambassador offered to share India’s experience from its Constitution and Election Commission and assist Sudan in this matter with what suits best for the country.

The Ambassador also spoke about bilateral relations stating that Sudan will always remain in focus in terms of institution building, capacity building in human resources and in industry. He added that Investment is the best way to prosper for a country like Sudan which brings in technology and management. In the recent CII Africa Conclave the robust delegation from Sudan discussed $ 86 billion worth of projects with India.

Good News on Friday the 13th

On Friday 13^th June, there was a Medical Doctor and an Ambulance waiting at Khartoum airport for a passenger from El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, Sudan. There were also senior security officials from United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Sudanese Security Agencies, State Minister of Darfur, Ambassador of India,other officials from the Indian Embassy and the media waiting for this passenger. They were all waiting to receive Irfan Jaffery an Indian national who just got released from his abductors after three months in Darfur. Once he arrived he certainly didn’t look like he needed medical support. Irfan hails from Mumbai and is a software professional working with multinational company Trigyn Technologies who work for UN worldwide. He with almost 70 other professionals was posted in Darfur.

On 11^th March he was abducted by armed rebels in El Fasher. He was kept in various places and the last place was Kabkabiya. There was a ransom for INR 32, 00,000 which is approximately USD 50,000. The policy of Government of India and UNAMID was against payment of ransom.

“Safety of Irfan Jaffery was my prime concern and we profusely thank Sudan Government particularly the Security Agencies, Provincial Government and the Foreign Ministry for getting him released from the abductors without paying any ransom” said the Ambassador of India H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma. Irfan, a bodybuilder had a smile in his face and was anxious to go back to his distraught family who had patience for these three months. Irfan expressed his gratitude to UNAMID, Sudan Government and the Government of India for their sincere and strategic plan and action in getting him released from captivity.