Kamal Ghorui
LUCKNOW: Carrying forward the humanitarian momentum that began in Srinagar and spread across the country, members of the Shia community in Lucknow have stepped forward to support people in Iran affected by the ongoing West Asia conflict.On Tuesday, scores of people—including children, elderly residents, and women—gathered at Dargah Hazrat Abbas to contribute donations in cash for humanitarian relief. The atmosphere reflected a strong sense of solidarity, with families arriving together to offer whatever help they could.Among the donors were sisters Monisha Zehera, aged 10, and Sakina, aged 7, who brought their piggy bank savings to contribute. “We want to help the people of Iran. We saw in the news that children there are suffering because of the war, so we decided to help them,” said Monisha.To ensure transparency and direct assistance, the dargah displayed a QR code provided by the Iranian Embassy, enabling donors to transfer funds directly to the embassy’s humanitarian aid account instead of depositing cash on the premises.Meesam Rizvi, caretaker of Dargah Hazrat Abbas, said the initiative was taken in response to community demand.“People wanted a trustworthy and direct way to donate for humanitarian aid. That’s why we displayed the QR code shared by the Iranian embassy,” he said, adding that at least 25 people had already made donations through the digital payment system.He added, “No cash or jewellery is being accepted, as dargah has no mechanism to transfer the donation collected physically to the Iranian embassy.”
