Re: I saw a man begging on the street to feed
Friday, July 11, 2008
By M. Waqar Bhatti
Karachi
If poverty, hunger and other miseries are not eradicated, the current situation in Pakistan would lead towards bloodshed and lawlessness, Abdul Sattar Edhi said Thursday.
“I am not a politician but I am in favour of a violent, bloody revolution to bring about drastic changes in Pakistan. I am a supporter of violent revolution to end social injustices from the society. If poverty is not eradicated, I’m foreseeing a bloody revolution here. People are dying of hunger but the rulers are busy somewhere else,” he told The News while collecting alms outside the Quaid’s mausoleum.
Edhi said that social evils such as poverty, inflation, corruption, oppression, tax and Zakat evasion were touching peaks in the society while qualities of truth, simplicity, hard work, justice and honesty were diminishing at a rapid speed.
Edhi, widely known for his philanthropic activities in and outside Pakistan, termed Karachi the ‘city of division and sects’ but added that the residents of Karachi were donating ‘overwhelmingly today’ to feed those who could not afford to have meals.
“A woman who did not want to be named gave me Rs4.5 million this morning. Similarly, a person donated US$10,000,” he said.
He also criticised the federal government over the fiscal budget 2008-09 saying that no relief was provided to the lower income group while commodities were becoming out of reach for a vast majority of Pakistanis.
“[Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto and Benazir would have never presented such an anti-people budget. In fact, they would have torn such types of budgets,” he claimed.
Edhi also criticised the government for the abolition of the death sentence saying that it would lead to more violent crimes in society. “The one who kills somebody should also be killed as per Qura’anic law. Otherwise, beasts would continue haunting helpless and weak people without any fear of punishment,” he said.
Edhi said that he would manage to collect around Rs10 million by evening and his target was to collect Rs1 billion in the current year to arrange at least two daily meals for poor and hungry people throughout Pakistan.
“Mostly young children, working people and students come to me and give me donations. I have complete faith in them because they care more for people who can’t afford food these days,” he said.
Edhi recalled that he started his “Bheek (alms collection) campaign” from Methadar Karachi on June 19 and visited Balochistan first. “I visited Quetta, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Gujrat, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and now in Karachi and people accorded me an overwhelming welcome and support,” he said adding that thousands were being fed at 325 Edhi centres twice daily throughout Pakistan.
He claimed that people from the United States, Saudi Arabia and many European and Arabian countries offered financial support to his programme but he turned down their offer as he only want to collect funds from Pakistan and spend them here in the country.
“I will only receive alms from Pakistanis as I want to motivate Pakistanis to feed their brethren who are in distress. We should eradicate poverty on our own,” he said.