KARBALA (IRAQ): In a country where security is the key concern amid a war with savages of Daesh (an acronym derived from the Arabic name for Islamic S tate terrorist group), the term al Hind (India) is virtually a free pass.

Invocation of the term prompts instant expressions like ahlan wasahlan (welcome) and references to Bollywood stars — Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan – while a few speak English here. Bollywood’s soft power and India’s reputation as a destination for quality , affordable healthcare trump the language barrier.

“A local journalist who spoke only Arabic smiled and repeated Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh… every time he crossed my path during an interaction," said a journalist, who was part of an Indian media delegation to Iraq, while highlighting the goodwill he experienced. Rasha Saeed, 26, who lives at a camp for those displaced due to Daesh terror , told the delegation Bollywood was the only thing she knew about India.

“I watch Bollywood films," she said while pointing towards a TV set inside her makeshift prefabricated house near Karbala. Saeed, whose husband has sought refuge in Germany , followed the delegation to their bus insisting how they could leave without having lunch.

Bangalore-based educationist Aga Sultan Murthuza, who was part of the delegation and involved in humanitarian work in Iraq, was mobbed at the camp with requests for facilitating treatment in India. He said r enowned Bangalore-based cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty’s generosity toward Iraqis has boosted goodwill for India.

"I was moved by the lack of medical care in Karbala when my mother fell sick as we first visited the shrine of prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Husain, here in 2005," Murthuza told TOI.

He said Shetty helped him set up a telemedicine centre in Karbala besides sending a team of doctors and technicians to Iraq for setting up medical camps. "The director of Husain’s shrine, Syed Saadudin Hashim, had a condition where his heart used to beat 190 times a minute. He needed a correction which was done in Bangalore." Murthuza said they set up the telemedicine centre after realising many patients travelled to India for even consultations.

“Many patients are now suggested treatment locally, which has saved lots of money."

He said the Karbala shrine was now building its own hospitals with Shetty’s technical help. “This has created tremendous goodwill for India. Dr Shetty has even performed many surgeries on Iraqis free or at subsidised costs," said Murthuza, who has sponsored many Iraqi engineers for training in Karnataka. Al Hind is also part of Iraq’s collective memory since trader Rahab Dutt sent his sons to fight for Husain in the battle of Karbala against evil ruler , Yazid, in the seventh century .

Dutt is believed to have rushed his sons to fight for Husain in line with the promise he had made to the Prophet of helping him uphold the truth while trading in Arabia. Dutt’s descendants have since been known as Husaini Brahmins. They are said to be born with a slash mark on their throats, symbolising their ancestors sacrifice for Husain.

A couplet of Mohammad Ali Jauhar, who led Khilafat movement along with Mahatma Gandhi, explains the significance of Karbala:

“Qatl-eHusain asl mein marg-e-Yazeed hai. Islam zinda hota hai har Karbala kay baad (The murder of Hussain is the end of Yazid. Islam is refreshed by the blood of the martyrs of Karbala)."

Bollywood actor Sunil Dutt was among the prominent Husaini Brahmins.

(The writer was in Iraq at the invitation of Karbala’s Imam Husain shrine)

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