A Lagos based group of Indians, from ancient Sikh community has fed more than 50 people within various communities in Lagos State.
The programme came as a way of giving back to society and sharing from possessions, with fellow human, irrespective of faith, color and background.
Specifically, the gesture, that had more than 50 people fed, also came as a way of commemorating Indian tradition of celebrating harvest period among the country’s nationals who were Lagos residents, a significant festival that Indian farmers hold in high esteem.
However, the Sikh community, all over the world, run free community kitchens, which provide meals to all and the programme are run and funded by volunteers.
As reported, in traditional Indian society, people of high and low caste, were rigidly segregated and to combat social problem, the Sikh community kitchen, implore Indians to the race.
The Group Leader, Sikh, Lagos chapter, Navdeep Lamba, stated that it was the tradition of the community to feed poor people, just as it fed more than 50 people in Lagos, and that the gesture was timely to had come during a period when Indians were celebrating the annual harvest festival back in India.
Speaking during the Sikh community’s feeding poor programme in Lagos at the weekend, Lamba explained that the common goals of every members of the community were to ensure that equality was maintain and extended to poor people and that there should not be discrimination.
He disclosed that Indians in Nigeria, who were members of the Sikh community, came up with idea of replicating same mission of the group as practiced back at home country, into Nigeria and began with feeding less privileged as first phase, among the community’s social services.
Lamba hinted that 50 people within Ilupeju axis of Lagos were fed with Nigerian delicacies and that the group’s members were looking forward to extend the gesture, which he said commenced a year ago, to other suburb areas of the state.
“We initiated the feeding poor program a year ago with just five people and since after two weeks of the program then, the turn out has continue increasing, with current number of above 50 less privileged, who were fed on Saturday.
“The community feed people every Saturday here in Ilupeju after assemblage of members of the group and the entire Sikh in Nigeria have come into agreement to doing something big,” he said.
When asked which other area would the group also be interested to focus its gesture on aside the feeding programme, Lamba indicated that the Sikh members were considering to start deploying resources onto medical aids and others that could assist sick people across rural areas in Nigeria.
He stated that the group had plans to partners with government and other relevant authorities, as well as other foundations, that share same goal with the community, so as to better replicate humanitarian service of the Sikh.
“It shows that people in our community here in Ilupeju and other areas in Nigeria need assistance from Sikh and its members because feeding program only started with five people and today, that number has jumped to more than 50”, he added.
For another representative of the community in Lagos, Balbir Kaur, Sikh social service was not a gender base programme and that belief of the members were that they must share whatever means of livelihood they possessed alongside less privileged people, irrespective of background, colour and religious.
Kaur expressed satisfaction over the feeding poor programme which she said members of the community were able to replicated into Nigeria, just as as she assured that the group would continue to do more to ensure its continue reaching out to poor people within their respective communities in Nigeria.
She maintained that India was of diverse culture, but that sharing with poor and exercising equality was common goal of Sikh members around the world.
“We must take care of our people, particularly the less privileged ones that close to us and we must not neglect them at face of suffering and economic hardship” she added.
Source: https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2018/04/15/indians-feed-lagosians-to-celebrate-harvest-period/
