Owais Mughal
aadmiat se hai baala aadmi ka martaba
pust himmat ye na howay, pust qaamat ho to ho
(A man’s destiny is much higher than humanity.
He can be short in height but should not be short on courage)
This photograph in Dawn (December 13, 2006) shows a homeless man on Karachi roads. The poor guy has wrapped himself in a cloth banner of a political party to save himself from winter temperatures.
I tried to read the urdu message on the banner. To me it seems like the words ‘huqooq ke-khilaf‘ (against the rights) are written on the banner. The dawn caption says that old man is put on the streets by his irresponsible children and is left to fend for himself by seeking alms.
kia hai qed mujhay os jagah pe zalim ne
jahaaN se saaf mera ghar dikhai deta hai
(I’ve been imprisoned at such a place,
that I can see from here my home clearly)
I was just touched by this photo and wanted to share with our readership. Imagine spending a winter night out in just 2 layers of clothing. lag pata jaaye ga! (You’ll know the reality).
chal ae hawa-e-zamistaaN, chal aur zor se chal
tu sard-mohri-e-ehbaab se ziyada nahiN
(O cold breeze, blow even stronger
You are not cooler than my cold acquaintances)
Anwar, Soup kitchens and shelter are a noble idea but they would have to be done at a massive scale (going by the rough stats imagine 10 million people utilizing them in the country). Sattar Edhi is already doing this at a very large scale. As someone quoted dr. Salam recently, poverty can be eliminated from pakistan in one generation if govt. puts its hearts and minds into it. Self-help micro finance, labor intensive industries and of course free and good quality education is what country needs. We all remember the noble example of not giving the needy money for food but money to buy an axe so that he could cut the wood and sell it.
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I am not sure what point this picture is trying to prove in the Dawn newspaper. Is it trying to show that this poor man is the only homeless person out in the streets of Karachi on a cold night or is it trying to show that this cannot or should not happen in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?
Homelessness occurs in every major metropolitan city in the world folks (including the USA and Europe). There is a black guy who has been sleeping under the freeway near my office for many months now. The mayor of the city has actually asked people not to promote beggary/homelessness by giving these people cash but instructed them to show up in the city’s and other charitable organization’s shelters.
There are many reasons for homelessness which may take a whole other forum to discuss, but in its essence it is symptomatic of society failing certain indivuduals due to lack of a social security network and emergency benefits. Since we do not stop harping on the mantra of the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, this person should be refered to the organization specifically ordained for this exact purpose: the local “Zakat Committee”. Every town and city has one and is funded by the federal and provincial governments through public money. Dawn or another community member should send this picture to the head of the local Zakat committee and ensure that he is not left at the mercy of the streets in the cold.
I would like to quote here from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Zakat and Ushr Wing document available online (http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/ministries/religious-a ffairs-ministry/media/ZakatCollectionandDistributi onSystem.doc):
“Pakistan, which was acquired in the name of Islam, is committed to do all that may be necessary to enable its Muslim citizens to order their lives in individual and collectives spheres in accordance with the tenets of Islam and the precepts of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).
The system of Zakat was introduced through an Ordinance titled “Zakat & Ushr Ordinance 1980â€
Mujhe aur zindagi daykay hai dastaan adhuri
Mere mauth say nah hogee mera gum kee tarjumani
rough transalation
Given a longer life, incomplete will be the stroy
My death will not be able to translate my pain
Look at his face, you see hopelessness and agony.
Are there any NGOs or philanthropic groups advocating concept of shelters and soup kitchens in Pakistan?
Inclusion of Povety Reduction Programs in the national budget is one indicator of the severity of the situation.
A number of people I have talked to in the US and Pakistan are willing to support endeavors for the less fortunate people however we need some means of making it possible.