JEDDAH, 10 January 2008 — Rafiudin S. Fazulbhoy, a prominent Indian living in Jeddah, was among three personalities from the Gulf, who were given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi yesterday. Ravi Pillai and Krishnamurthy Kumar were the other two recipients of the award from the Gulf.
In all, 12 people received the award at the concluding day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2008 yesterday.
Fazulbhoy, popularly known as Rafibhai, is the founding member of the International Indian School-Jeddah (IISJ). He has served in the school management committee several times.
He is an active member of the Ideal Education Movement, a registered society and trust in Mumbai and several other organizations in Saudi Arabia. He also founded the Indian Pilgrims Welfare Forum.
While Pillai has a significant presence in the oil and gas sector in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Rafibhai is known for his work in the fields of education and community welfare and Kumar for promoting trade between India and the United Arab Emirates.
Rafibhai remains an inspiration for the IISJ and many other organizations like Indian Forum, Urdu Academy, Maharashtra Mitra Mandal, EXCISS etc.
He has been in the Kingdom for the past 50 years and has also contributed to enhancing the image of India in the Saudi society and fostering better India-Saudi relations at various levels.
