Adil Najam
We have used the ‘Jahalat‘ caption before in headlines (here, here and here). It is time to do so again.
This picture is from PPI and the caption reads:
“A physically paralyzed girl lies half-buried in sand at the banks of river Indus. Local mythology suggests burying paralyzed children in sand and exposing them to solar eclipse helps overcome paralysis.”
Need one say more!
I guess even a solar eclipse is no cure for jahalat.
Dear Readers,
While All Things Pakistan has remained alive and online, it has been dormant since June 11, 2011 - when, on the blog's 5th anniversary, we decided that it was time to move on. We have been heartened by your messages and the fact that a steady traffic has continued to enjoy the archived content on ATP. While the blog itself will remain dormant, we are now beginning to add occasional (but infrequent) new material by the original authors of the blog, mostly to archive what they may now publish elsewhere. We will also be updating older posts to make sure that new readers who stumble onto this site still find it useful.
We hope you will continue to find ATP a useful venue to reflect upon and express your Pakistaniat. - Editors
This is just an act of hope. Hoping against the impossible.
Don’t we all do the same? Rationale tells us that Allah or God hasn’t cured a single amputated person in the history of humanity. So why do we still pray? Are our prayers more important than the prayers of permanently disabled people?
We pray for hope, to our own imagination, as it helps us cope. That all there is to it.
Praying to Jesus or Allah or God is no more “Jahil” that what these people are doing. Dare not pronounce judgment on them, specially if you believe you are educated.
Daktar
Although I am unable to help you out with the family shown in the picture, however, below is the address of a centre which provides services to physically and mentally handicapped children of Karachi. I have been seeing this centre since I remeember and it is locted very near to my house in Karachi. People who have visited Kashmir Road in Karachi might have seen it since it is located on the main road.
Address :
Dar-ul-Sukun
159-H Block-3 P.E.C.H.S.
Kashmir Road Karachi
Pakistan
Phone :
+92-021-4550381
+92-021-4558797
+92-021-4554139
Fax :
92-21-4542738
Contact Persons
Sr. Ruth Lewis
In-charge of all the Homes
ruthie_lewis47@hotmail.com
Mr. Morris Khurshid
Office Manager
morris_khurshid@hotmail.com
crismorris@yahoo.com
Email :
darulsukun@hotmail.com
info@darulsukun.com
Link to their website is as below.
http://www.darulsukun.com/index.html
Shame on you the enlightened ATP. How could you not see the pain on parent’s faces?
@ Humaira. :) so you think there is a chance that the girl might have been cured. It is quite likely that even the parents in the picture did not think so.
I can tell, from personal experience, that sometimes you pretend to believe in something beyond reason only to give emotional and psychological support to the dear person who is suffering from something incurable. The small moments of hope that the suffering person feels are priceless.
So, did the girl get cured?