Khader helps PhD scholar who returned from Italy get home

Updated: Apr 13, 2020, 12:13 IST

MLA U T Khader along with PhD scholar Shree Madhu Bhat and her family

MANGALURU: Mangaluru MLA U T Khader helped a Mangalurean research scholar in virology, who had arrived in India from Italy on March 22, to reach her home in Kulai from Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Khader said that Shree Madhu Bhat, a PhD student at the University of Turin in Italy, had arrived in Delhi on March 22. “After the quarantine period, she was brought to Bengaluru in a special bus arranged by the central government, two days ago. However, she had no way to reach her home in Kulai in Mangaluru. Soon after learning about the same, I brought her in my car, and she reached her home safely on Sunday,” Khader said, adding that she is the daughter of retired army officer Shivaram Bhat and Shailaja Bhat, who is a professor at Vijaya College in Mulki.
“The government of India made arrangements to bring 26 people from India, including Shree Madhu, who were stranded in Italy. All of them were put under quarantine in Delhi, and later the government arranged a special bus to take all of them to their respective states. The bus travelled via Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, and reached Bengaluru on Friday. Her parents contacted the district administration for help, to bring their daughter from Bengaluru. They later got in touch with me through a common friend. I made arrangements to bring her to Mangaluru in my personal car. I have also helped two more people—Alister from Paneer and Anina Basheer—both of whom were stranded in Bengaluru, to reach Mangaluru in my car. I dropped all of them to their homes in the early morning on Sunday,” Khader said.
Did MLA violate lockdown?
Though people are not allowed to cross district and state borders during the lockdown, Khader crossed two district borders, to travel in his car to Bengaluru, and then return.
When asked if he had violated the lockdown, Khader said he has travelling for emergency purposes. “I was in Mangaluru when I received a message from the parents of Shree Madhu Bhat. Meanwhile, I had an interview with a private news channel in Bengaluru. Hence, I asked her to meet me in Bengaluru. MLAs have to travel during emergencies, but by taking all the necessary precautions,” Khader said.
He said it was the central government which made arrangements for the people stranded in Italy, to travel in a bus from Delhi, and cross all inter-state and district borders. “The government sent them to their respective states after the completion of the quarantine period, to ensure that they reach home safely,” Khader said.
On bringing two others from Bengaluru to Mangaluru, Khader said, “Humanity is more important than anything else.”