Before we discuss the above lets have a look at brief profile of Mr. Edhi (source:www.edhi.org)
Every society is destined to face the problems of looking after the welfare of the sick, the weak, the destitute and the needy. All societies are alike in this respect. One way of assessing the status of a society on the road to civilization is the value accorded to an individual and his basic human needs. These have not always received the attention they deserve in the planning of economics, particularly in developing countries. Most of the available resources are consumed by defense needs and pressing demands for technological progress.
Programs for development in the social sector stay a long way behind mainly because of financial constraints. Special efforts are, therefore, needed to mobilize community resources to initiate and develop programs for the welfare of the weak and the disadvantaged members of the society.
Sometimes it happens that a fortunate combination of the national situation and personal characteristics produce an individual with a capacity to understand the challenge and develop appropriate responses to this challenge. Such an individual in the case of Pakistan is Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation
Abdul Sattar Edhi was born in 1928 in a small village of Bantva near Joonah Garh, Gujrat (India). The seeds of compassion for the suffering humanity were sown in his soul by his mother's infirmity. When Edhi was at the tender age of eleven, his mother became paralyzed and later got mentally ill. Young Abdul Sattar devoted himself for looking after all her needs; cleaning, bathing, changing clothes and feeding. This proved to be a loosing battle against the disease, and her helplessness increased over the years. Her persistent woeful condition left a lasting impression on young Edhi. The course of his life took a different turn from other persons of his age. His studies were also seriously affected and he could not complete his high school level. For him the world of suffering became his tutor and source of wisdom.
Edhi's mother died when he was 19. His personal experience made him think of thousands and millions, suffering like his mother, around with nobody to look after them. He thought that he had a call to help these people. He had a vision of chains of welfare centers and hospitals that could be opened to alleviate the pain of those suffering from illness and neglect. He also thought of the in-human treatment meted out to the mentally ill, the insane and the disabled persons. Even at this early age, he felt personally responsible for taking on the challenge of developing a system of services to reduce human miseries. The task was huge; he had no resources. But it was something that he had to do even if he had to walk to the streets with a cap in hand to beg for this purpose.
Edhi and his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947. In order to earn his living, Abdul Sattar Edhi initially started as a pedlar, later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in Karachi. After a couple of years, he left this occupation and with the support of some members of his community decided to establish a free dispensary. He became involved in this charity work. However, soon his personal vision of a growing and developing system of multifarious services made him decide to establish a welfare trust of his own and named it "Edhi Trust". An appeal was made to the public for funds. The response was good, and Rs. 200,000 was raised. The range and scope of work of Edhi Trust expanded with remarkable speed under the driving spirit of the man behind it. A maternity home was established and emergency ambulance service was started. More donations were received as people's confidence in the activities of the trust grew. With the passage of time, masses gave him the title of the "Angel of mercy".
Abdul Sattat Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary. The couple has four children, two daughters and two sons. Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarter in Karachi and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies. The husband-wife team has come to share the common vision of single minded devotion to the cause of alleviation of human sufferings and a sense of personal responsibility to respond to each call for help, regardless of race, creed or status.
Despite his enormous fame and the vast sums of money that passes through his hands, Edhi adheres to a very modest lifestyle. He and his family live in a two room apartment adjacent to the premises of Foundation's headquarter. Neither Edhi nor Bilquis receives any salary, the live on the income from government securities that Edhi bought many years ago to take care of their personal needs for the rest of their lives, thereby freeing them to devote single mindedly to their missionary work.
Reading above, I am sure all of you must have been impressed and have got great deal of respect and admiration for Edhi sb for his his selfless devotion for the welfare of the society. He is a simple man who handles millions of rupees transactions on daily basis with out any greed and lust and even a thought to mis-use it. Its a great honor for me to write and dedicate this article to the Great Edhi sb. Edhi sb runs his organization with a simple rule: "when there is a positive will there is way out". He does not need a fleet of ministers, consultants, advisors and above all foreign aid to run his institution. Reason is very simple, he knows what he doing and we blindly trust him. This is the trust and fame none of the personalities enjoyed apart from Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in this region. Compare his life style with that of our leaders, ministers, buruecretes, businessmen, feudal Lords, and rest of the big shots and you will find out the very basis of our system is wrong. We provide luxuries of life at the expense of tax payer's money who does not even need luxuries, but are still hungry and greedy for it. We dont curtail our expenses so that the maximum of our revenues should be spent at the welfare of the society on the whole. Edhi sb does not need a protocol convoy of security vehicles, he does not have to wear an Armani suit to impress people, he does not have to address people in gatherings and political processions, he does not need a Presidency or a PM's position to do some thing for Pakistan, he is not even touched by the cat n mouse race of gathering as much as possible all the wealth in the word, he is a simple straight forward man to offer what ever in his means for social welfare, help of the deprived people, taking care of the old and also running nurseries, Ambulance services for free, medical expense coverage for people who cant afford it. In the times when what to talk of government, your beloved ones and blood relations even deny help, you will always find Edhi sb there for you with the possible help and support. You will never find Edhi sb publicly hand over support cheques to people in front of media like our ministers and President and PM would do. He is not after false fame, he is doing it for the sake of personal satisfaction and as a duty assigned by our religion Islam to help fellow Muslims. He is running such a huge set up successfully primarily cause of one reason, his personal and his team's commitment to help the needy with out any personal gains in mind.
Can he be the role model for our politicians and for people from all walks of life in Pakistan? Such a humble man that you can not believe that this is the man who achieved so much over the years and still call it an effort to be of any use to the people of Pakistan's general welfare.
People Like Edhi sb, Ansar Barni and Asma Jahangir should be our role models and leaders than any of the present around. We all must rise above the sky to join hands with people who know how to support a social welfare and equal justice for all cause to make sure our country reflects a picture of true Islamic Welfare state.
My personal salute of admiration and respect to Edhi sb along with a salute from writers
of TPSfor the wonderful care and love he has extended to millions of Pakistanis over the years and my request to the ruling class and law makers, keep people like Edhi sb always in mind while enjoying all the luxuries of life at Nation's expense. We dont make dams (Kala Bagh Dam pending cause of the conflict of interests of Politicians, no body is analysing its benefits to the common man) to reduce the cost of electricity for masses, we dont encourage support to small scale business operators improve house hold income, We spend less on education cause politicians could rule only at the ignorant and illiterate people who are caught in the worst feudal system of the world. Our history has never seen so called elites to be answerable to the inhumane treatment given to Harees, Kissan, Muzaraah, brick factory workers, textile mills emoployees etc.
We need people with selfless devotion like Mr. & Mrs Abdul Sattar Edhi, to lead us through the difficult times and run the government like missionaries spirit. Media should project people like Edhi sb alot of print and electronic media so that people get motivated and serve our Nation with out having monetary benefits at the back of our minds.
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