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Actor Adnan Siddiqui happened to be in the same place at the same time as Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and after hearing him voice his concern for an actor, decided to turn to him for help. Bringing up the case of former cricketer Zaheer Abbas who has hoisted Pakistan’s flag high nationally and internationally, he asked him to provide aid as a “moral obligation towards our hero”.

On Wednesday, the Mere Paas Tum Ho actor shared an old photo of Abbas on the field and a more recent one, side-by-side. “This is a fervent appeal to the Chief Minister of Sindh, Mr Syed Murad Ali Shah, whom I overheard telling someone to help an actor who’s going through financial trouble, at the Islamabad airport. Sir, my apology for inadvertently listening in on you but your concern for the industry really touched me. I request you to extend the same magnanimity to our cricketer Zaheer Abbas who is battling with pneumonia, kidney failure and liver malfunction at Hammersmith Hospital, UK for the last 2.5 months,” he wrote.

Siddiqui shed light on all that the sportsman has accomplished in his successful career. “It is painful to see that a player who brought global recognition to the country, famously addressed as Bradman of Asia, has been awarded the prestigious Pride of Pakistan and is a cross-generational inspiration, has not received any support from his home country.”

The Dum Mastam actor feels it to be a moral duty to be of his assistance. “I am sure the NHS must be providing necessary aid, him being a red passport holder. That, however, doesn’t absolve us from the responsibility of extending help. It is a moral obligation towards our hero,” he concluded.