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 what makes Edhi’s contribution much more significant than anybody else is that a nation which is poor and an underdeveloped country where the value of life is extremely low..where values are exploited and sometimes wrongly use..where abuse is so common you can look down on the country with filth and even if you are born in this country you would shy away to be a part of the system which can b so deleterious it makes you waste away in days; where social pressures and religious abuse know no bounds he stood up to work uncoditionally for those who are suffering…God knows there’s nothing we can give him taht could compare to his contributions…May Allah bless you..
The social servcies of a man who dedicated his whole life, his passion, his love, his energy and everything he ever had to nothing else than reaching out for the opressed, needy, poor and heartbroken and helping them out in any way he can absolutely deserve to be acknowledged on an international level.
ok then, im not really sure if its something authenticated or just a trick by a person to populate his/her blog, because i have never seen nobel prize authorities conducting such polls etc…
anywayz, Abdul Sattar Edhi is someone who deserves to have nobel prize. His services to huminity are monumental. He has done a great job all over Pakistan especially n also rendered his services openly to suffering humanity all over the World. He serves humanity irrespective of caste, religion, citizenship. Tsunami in Thailand, earthquake in pakistan or Indonesia, cyclones in India, you just name it, he was there with his team of dedicated ppl to help n support ppl…
In a selfish n self-consumed world, he stands as a beacon of light for all of Us to follow his footsteps…
Edhi has changed the destiny of countless humanbeings. His organization is truely serving the poor, helpless, needy and deprived people. so I think his lifetime efforts for the betterment of mankind have made him the most deserving person for this award.
One person who has touched heart with his effort to somewhat patch up human suffering, without the intention of any public admiration, Is Abdul Sattar Edhi.
He is managing one of the biggest, singly owned, Emergency Ambulance services in the world. Not just that, when ever and where ever there is a catastrophe the first name that pops-up is of Abdul Sattar Edhi to facilitate and help.
He is not just an Ambassador but a doer himself.
If nothing else this individual surely deserves the highest award possible.
In these times of dishonesty and hypocricy, I have not seen someone who works so selflessly for others as Mr. Edhi. I respect him as a noble, humble and generous human being, and beleive if there is anyone who deserves the nobel prize its Mr. Edhi. I also beleive that work such as his cannot be weighed in any kind of accolades given by man but we must show appreciation to a man who has devoted his entire life for the sake of others.
I support the idea of nominating Mr Edhi for nobal prize. Just to add to all above, I would say Mr Edhi is Pakistani but works for humanity with out borders. Take the example of Afghanistan, Tsunami and Iraq. If he does not deserve it then I wonder who does in this world?
Aoa All,
I am really gald to see this web site along with so much of material on Edhi sahab.I really appreciate this effort. No doubt that Edhi sahab trully deserves the nobel prize.His services in Pakistan are worth praising. I think young people should follow his example and give in their best to serve their nation
AH