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 believe that had not Sattar Edhi emerged on the horizon of Pakistan in the decade of 1980s thousands of injured would had died untreated / unattended, thousands of orphans and destitutes would either had become criminals or drug addicts. God knows how many dead bodies would had got rotten unburried without having any sort of funeral. Above all hundreds of thousands helpless children would had cried to death with hunger, fear, lack of care and love. It was not other than Edhi who embraced these untidy, crying, scared and deserted small kids like his own children and gave all of them a hope a future. I dont know how a person becomes a prophet but atleast this chap deserves to be declared a saint, an angel and a pride for mankind. Nobel Prize is a small thing for such a great man as such awards for world peace are more suitable for political folks like Barrack Obama - awarded at a time when he is waging three wars - killing thousands of people!!! However, Nobel Prize for Peace can at least be a token recognition from the civilized world for the huminitarian services of a real deserving person by the name of Maulana Sattar Edhi.
He is so dedidcated, honest and down to earth. No doubt he is a living Legend.
He is so dedidcated, honest and down to arth. No doubt he is a living Legend.
There is no doubt he deserves a Nobel prize for his selfless work. He is a living legend and all of us admire him.
Not only Abdul Sattar Edhi but his wife Bilqees Edhi should also be awarded Nobel Peace Prize although we know that even hundreds of Nobel Peace Prizes will not be enough for the work they have done for humanity.
Well deserved….
and it’s time that he gets recognized
What else could be the reason for a person like Edhi to honor the Noel Prize as he is known over all the world whose deeds are for the people who are most neglected i.e. homeless people..
Mr . Edhi has done a great service to people of this country by running an entire setup of orphanages, ambulances and health centers. Whenever some unfortunate event takes place , his ambulances and rescue teams make it to the scene even before government owned teams arrive . In a country like ours where social welfare system is almost non existent , Mr. Edhi has given us a hope by creating social welfare centers in every nook and corner of the country . Mr . Edhi has continued to serve the people of this country even in the worst of time which includes today’s Pakistan with militancy