Adil Najam
My posts over the last few days have all been designed to build up to this (here, here and here).
Irrespective of whether Abdul Sattar Edhi is a Pakistani or not, irrespective of how much most Pakistanis hold his selfless zeal in reverence - and irrespective also of all the ways in which a few have tried to malign him - I believe that Abdul Sattar Edhi deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. I need your help in putting together a nominations package.
I do not wish to make this a nationalistic thing. He would not like that. For me it is a humanistic thing. As he has made clear again and again, humanism and humanitarianism is more important than everything else; certainly it is bigger than nationalism.
Here is a man who has dedicated his whole life to serving the most marginalized and the most wretched in society. The destitutes, the mentally ill, corpses left by the roadside, children abandoned at his doorsteps, women kicked out by their families. When there is no one to go to, there is always Edhi Sahib to go to.
As importantly, he has done this - in his words - ‘wholesale’. He has single handedly built - literally by begging - a social services structure at a national scale. Bigger than what governments have. He has never taken a ruppee as salary himself. He lives in a two room apartment that most middle class Pakistanis would not call home and he oversees the largest ambulance network in the world, now with airplanes and helicopters, a multi-million dollar enterprise of relief, of goodwill, and of humanitarianism. If he does not deserve the Nobel Award, I do not know who does.
As I had mentioned in the last post, the Edhi Foundation is collecting signatures on a petition that he be given the Nobel Award. I like other bloggers (here, here, and here) would urge you to sign that petition and join the thousands others who already have.
But I think we can do a little more. Here is how.
I checked out the website of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and looked at their nominations procedure. It is not clear whether they accept petitions or not, but it turns out that they do have categories of individuals who can make nominations (which are due by February 1). One of those categories is “university professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology.” I am not sure if I have much standing with them, but I fit into that category, and therefore I believe I have the ability to formally send in a nomination, and I plan to write in a nomination letter over the next few days.
What I would like to do, then, is to ask you all to write your own testimonials to why Abdul Sattar Edhi deserves a Nobel Award in the comments section. We want to gather as many testimonials/comments as possible.
Personal stories and examples of how he touches people’s lives and meets the ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize are especially useful.
So let me please request you for your help. If you agree with me that Abdul Sattar Edhi deserves a Nobel Peace Prize:
- Please leave a testimonial in the comments section saying that he deserved the award why you believe that Abdul Sattar Edhi deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
- Please email this post to your friends and ask them to do the same.
- If you are a blogger, please spread the word on your blogs and to your readers and ask those who agree with my proposition to leave a testimonial.
And to meet the deadline we need to do all of this in the next few days. I have no pretensions that a letter from one professor will do the trick. But since I have this ability, I want to at least give it a shot. At least we would be able to say, we tried.
What do you say, folks?
I also like to add that Nobel foundation would honour itself by presenting Mr Edhi this award.
I just read the quotes in the recent posts. They were powerful indeed. Reading these quotes alone and Adil’s take on the book I think this is an unfinished story that should be retold. Could this be your next summer project, Adil?
I have had two encounters with Mr. Edhi and it is important that I mention both here. First meeting was about seventeen some years ago on one of those rare January days in Karachi when it does get cold (to about 4′c). Those days for school I had to get up and instead of waiting for the school bus at the doorstep had to walk about 100 meters to main clifton road to wait for my little school van to arrive for pickup. So I got ready for the school that morning, wore my sweater without any complain(!), and made it to an almost deserted clifton road. The only person I saw there that morning that early in that cold was Mr. Edhi wearing black khudder shalwar qameez with a helper pasting posters for donation on the poles. I don’t know whether it was shock or disbelief but I didn’t have the courage to go and shake his hands. At that age when cars, cd players, music and movies meant everything, life was shown to me in the right perspective.
Second encounter was this past spring at JFK, New York at about 1 in the morning in the waiting lounge for an extremely delayed PIA flight. I met a very old and very tired man heading to the rest room for Wuzzoo. I embraced him. Here the observation was refershingly a different one. In about five minutes he gave me the download on what charity work he was doing in extremely poor African countries, the land that he had bought in Dubai as a centre for that purpose and his work in the U.S. Matter of fact straight answers and a resolve unseen by me before. I could expect that from a seasoned wall street underwriter but not from him. I knew then that it was not suprising this man had achieved so much in life and in so much adversity.
It amazes me that as of today Nobel foundation has not recognized, appreciated and acknowledged a man whose work has touched millions of lives around the world.
Mr Edhi has establish a welfare foundation which is providing free medical and many social services to millions of people without taking any aid from any Goverment. Probably he runs the largest welfare organization in South East Asia.
His life long work for humanity cannot be describe in few sentences. His contributions are countless to make this world a peaceful place to live and I would vote for Mr Edhi to get the Nobel peace award.
Fantastic idea - I’ll be linking to this and spreading the word.
Thanks,
Baraka
I am very surprised and shocked that you even questioned whether Mr. Edhi is a Pakistani or not at the beginning of your article. Where did this doubt even come from? If he not a Pakistani then what he is? As far as nominating him for Nobel I fully support it.
Nothing describes Edhi’s philanthropic life more than what one can learn from his childhood. When Edhi was young, his mother would give him 2 paisas, one to spend on himself and one on others. This man grew up to commit his life to others, a goal that many philanthropists share. What sets him aside from his peers are the results of his work and foundation and the mass support he has earned from people and organizations all over the world.
I say Aye!
If the world can appreciate and acknowledge Mother Teresa’s selfless work, surely the world can recognize Dr. Edhi.
We should call him Dr. Edhi to make it the name in mainstream use.
Secondly, name one humanitarian foundation on the scale of Edhi Foundation (not including red crescent/cross, etc) run by a single man and with such efficiency and selflessness resulting in him being loved by all Pakistanis. You won’t find anyone else and so he deserves the award.
Let us make him a positive symbol for Pakistan.
Digg this:
http://digg.com/health/Nominate_Edhi_for_Nobel_Pea ce_Prize_2007
By the way, one other thing the Nobel Committee will get in selecting Edhi is a role model for the world that is unlike all others. A truly progressive Muslim, a maulana, a humanist and a humanitarian. In a world full on conflict we need role models who are healers. I hope they select Edhi.