Kareem says "there is no other choice for him but to drive the auto"
HYDERABAD: Despite being a venerated recipient of Star Medal for his contribution in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, a war veteran is driving an autorickshaw on Hyderabad roads for a living. Poverty, official apathy, financial crisis, Covid-19 pandemic and advancing age have left 71-year-old Sheikh Abdul Kareem crippled, but the ex-serviceman has not lost hope.
To keep his family up and running, Kareem drives an auto, which he has been doing for the last six years. The war veteran doesn’t own a home or a even piece of land. He manages to survive in a rented tenement in Rajendranagar with the earnings he makes from running his auto. After having tried his hand as a supervisor, security guard and car driver, the septuagenarian has only an auto to make ends meet.