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Sri Lankan community 'lost in generation' unites during Ramadan

Dubai - Holy month of Ramadan brings together people of Sri Lankan village in Dubai

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Ramadan this year in UAE turned out to be special for a group of expatriates from Sri Lanka.
A couple of them from Akurna, a village in the island nation, got together in Dubai and decided to set up a whatsapp group, United Akurna, in search of their compatriots and got an overwhelming response.
"The group was set up in the first week of Ramadan. With each passing day, the numbers of members joining the group is on the rise. Over 150 members have joined so far," said Arshad Mohammed, one of the organisers.
Akurna is a suburb in Kandy and is located 125km from Colombo. Geographically, the place is surrounded by hills and rivers and majority of the people in the town speak Tamil, English and Sinhala. Some can read Arabic as Quranic texts are in Arabic. Smaller numbers are also well-versed in Japanese. The language spoken by Akurana moors is called Arwi.
According to Sri Lankan history, this city was presented to the Muslim community by a Sinhalese King for bravery and support of Muslim men in war.

Guidelines to join the male-only group > Sri Lanka (Akurana) Muslim males in UAE only > No personal messages > No funny posts and pics > No video > No voice recording > Aviod likes > Validate the post before you share > Important information regarding job opportunities, community gathering plans and requirements related to Akurana Muslims only > Respecting others, no harsh comments or ideology on religious matters > Akurana schools and education related posts can be made

The search for fellow Akurna members began over a decade back when a death in the community saw fewer mourners at the graveyard.
"When we saw that only a handful turned up on the cremation ground, whereas we were aware that many from my village is out here eking a living. It kind of mobilised us to do something to bring together the people from the village working in this country. The objective was to lend each other a helping hand in times of need.
"In other words the group serves to keep us informed of the activities and happenings taking place among the members. For example we came to know of a death of a young man from our village who was working here," said Mohammed.
The group recently organised an Iftar in Abu Dhabi that gave the members an opportunity to meet each other.
"I came across someone, whose father was known to me back in the village. Most of the members are second generation and it was such a good felling. The group has men only and we have very strict rules laid out to maintain the group decorum.
"We are not against women members but not many women from the village leave to work overseas. We plan to hold a similar Iftar parties in Sharjah and Dubai as well," said Mohammed.
sunita@khaleejtimes.com