This 26-Year-Old Indian Residing In US Has Raised A Million Dollars For Pulwama Martyrs' Kin

Update: The Indian Consulate General in New York and Vivek Patel's team are currently seeking a U.S Non-profit where all the money from Facebook fundraiser can be transferred to. From that non-profit, the funds will be sent to Bharat Ke Veer government portal.

Over 45 of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were martyred in the ghastly Pulwama attack on February 14. The attack also left 20 jawans injured as a 19-year-old terrorist blew himself to smithereens in an explosive-laden vehicle.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing and even released a video of the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmed Dar, which had been recorded prior to the terror attack.

Following this, the Indian armed forces avenged the death of its martyrs by killing the mastermind behind this attack Kamran alias Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, who had been hiding in the valley. Local media reported that Kamran infiltrated the border in first week of December and had been hiding there ever since.

As Indian tricolor draped coffins started reaching their respective hometowns, thousands of people along with bereaved families came together in solidarity. Notable personalities extended their support in various ways as some helped to offer donations, while others pledged to take care of the kids¡¯ education.

People, in different ways, big and small offered to help. In this entire scenario, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), living 8,000 miles away from India in the United States, Vivek Patel was deeply anguished with the tragedy that had struck his country back home.

The Current Indian Govt Website For Indian Armed Forces Does Not Accept International Cards

The 26-year-old who originally hails from Vadodara, Gujarat decided to help the CRPF families. ¡°I initially went through the government website Bharat Ke Veer but they weren¡¯t accepting any US debit or credit cards. The site was also down due to a lot of traffic therefore, I couldn¡¯t donate there.¡± he told Indiatimes over the phone.

Patel had just finished watching URI- The Surgical Strike movie on Thursday and he felt a strong urge to support the CRPF troopers and their families. Therefore, he decided to start his own fundraiser.

Photo: Viveik Patel

¡°I wanted to reach out to the maximum number of people and I think what better medium could we use than Facebook.¡± With an initial goal of USD 5,00,000, he started the fundraiser on Facebook on February 14 (US Time while it was February 15 in India).

Working as a Senior Business Analyst in Virginia, Patel leveraged his contacts and even connected with Facebook managers regarding his fundraising initiative. Within just 12 hours, Patel had managed to raise a quarter million dollars or USD 2,52,000.

In just four days, Patel¡¯s fundraiser had surpassed its goal of USD 5,00,000 and has already raised more than a million dollars! At the moment, the fundraiser has donations worth $1,002,634 which is over Rs 7 crore.

Photo: Facebook

Unfortunately, Facebook fundraising is currently not available in India and donations can be made only in the U.S currency. Since Bharat Ke Veer doesn't accept international cards, NRIs have no option available to them apart from donating it to fundraisers. It is therefore, important for the government to develop a website that caters to international audience as well.

Vivek even told Indiatimes that he had been getting numerous calls from citizens in Australia, Germany and Canada who wanted to help.

To start a fundraiser on Facebook, a person needs an NGO name. With the absence of an NGO name, Vivek had to start the fundraiser in his own name. Though, he had conducted small donation drives when he was young but had never organised something at a global level.

On February 20, the Indian consulate in New York posted on Facebook saying, "Members of the Indian Community/ PIOs/ NRIs, who wish to contribute to the cause but are facing difficulty in contributing through the website https://bharatkeveer.gov.in/ as they do not have Indian credit cards, can contribute through cheque drawn in favour of ¡°Bharat Ke Veer¡± which can be sent directly to the CRPF headquarters."

As on Thursday, close to 24,000 people had donated for families of the CRPF martyrs and 75,000 had shared the fundraiser. Patel was even invited on a Chicago-based Indian Radio station called Desi Junction radio where he answered queries of the listeners who wanted to know about this initiative.

¡°We are all Indians at the end of the day. No matter where you live, what you do, you will always remain an Indian. We cannot compare the sacrifices made by our soldiers with money but we can provide help to their families.¡± he said.

However, Patel has to ensure that such a huge fortune gets transferred smoothly and safely reaches the victims of this tragedy.

Photo: Facebook

Indiatimes even spoke to Deputy Inspector General, CRPF Mr. Vijay Kumar who said that Patel and others were in touch with him as well as the CRPF head over the email.

¡°Abhi portal (Bharat Ke Veer) par international cards ki suvidha uplabdh nahi hai. Unki mail ke zariye hum unse baat karke, unki requirements jaankar aage unse baat karenge. Abhi humein dekhna hai, aur jo bhi crowd-funding hai uske liye process karenge aage.¡± he said.

Indiatimes contacted Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul-General at India in New York over message and he responded by saying that they are in communication with Patel and are guiding him for the best possible way to transfer the money. He also raised an important issue that NRIs are faced with while making donations. He said that there were bottlenecks that India faced while receiving money from abroad. Even if Facebook would send the money, it might get stuck. During calamities and other tragedies, India would thus, need a more robust donation system for its foreign contributors.

We are delighted to support the initiative of Viveik Patel (center) & friends who have raised on @facebook almost U$ 1 million from about 24,000 donors to help the families of the martyrs of the #PulwamaTerrorAttack. We discussed the best way to transfer money to @BharatKeVeer pic.twitter.com/BfFHPxRgM4

¡ª India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) February 21, 2019

Vivek also said that he was in touch with Deputy Consulate General of New York, Shri. Shatrughna Sinha to get support from the government and facilitate transfer of funds via the SBI. He was also talking to Indian Consulates in Chicago and Washington D.C. Since it was President¡¯s Day on February 18, Monday most of the banks were also closed.

The Facebook Fundraiser is also supporting this initiative by helping the organizers to ensure that the money goes to the right place as quickly as possible. In light of the Pulwama attack, millions of people have donated money for the martyrs' kin however, it is imperative for the government to ensure that the contributions do not get lost among the middlemen.

Thank you for your fantastic contribution. Hopefully we¡¯ll find a way out to work together in this noble mission. https://t.co/cCyhsseOrz

¡ª Amit Lodha (@Ipsamitlodha7) February 20, 2019

This story will be updated as soon as the process begins and the money will be transferred to India.