we just drove by the mazaar of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Defence, Karachi…never been in that area this late at night before…past midnite…
at the mazaar, people distribute free food everyday, so there’s lots of homeless people, of all ages, including druggees present there all the time in large numbers jus roaming abt…
it was quite shocking to see tonite what we saw…on the whole footpaath…the whole strip of abt two blocks..there were ppl sleeping…and there must have been hundreds of ppl there jus sleeping…
never seen this sight before in pakistan…have seen ppl sleeping on footpaths but never in such large numbers…
i dint know what to feel for them…sorry? angry? i was like to my brother the police should come and collect all of them…my brother was like its not like they have another option but to sleep here…and i was jus like nikammay drug addicts, why dont they do something better with their lives? i prolly got no right to say this sitting in my comfortable house [alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah] but still…i mean…they can find a job? they can go to edhi even…maybe im heartless but should i really feel sorry for these ppl who choose to live such lives?
You're assuming that they choose to live such lives and that they haven't tried Edhi etc.
Whilst I have no sympathy for the homeless in a welfare state such as the UK, in Pakistan where there is an insufficient social security net to provide for the poor the situation is completely different.
well ms thats the thing...there very much IS a social security net...
fine, some ppl are mazoor...and some ppl really have had problems..
but tell me, what about a hatta katta, sehtmand, nojawan banda...shud i feel sympathy for him coz he chooses to live his life like this...?
u know, ppl come to karachi from remote areas of NWFP and in sweltering heat they do mehnat mazdoori to earn haq halal kee kamai...ive seen it with my own eyes...one man with a spade and the whole day his job is jus to break stone on the streets..tough physical work,,,
there IS employment avlbl for a person who wants to work...
and there IS a social net...
but ppl choose to not just become drug addicts but then drag their wives and kids into this mess too....
i really dont feel sorry for them..i feel this anger...feel like holding them, shaking them, and telling them HELLO WTH WAKE UP AND GET A GRIP, DONT WASTE UR LIFE, DONT BE A MENACE TO SOCIETY AND DONT WASTE THE LIVES OF UR FAMILY MEMBERS
irem perhaps u havent yet really known what poverty means....
how it shatters the dreams, even the smallest ones....
and really, most of those people might not even be interested in living....
totally lost hope and faith in life....
irem guRiya ....perhaps i'm disaggreeing with you for the first time ....but i have to!
don't you know the position of job market in pak....at a place where u can find many ppl who r selling flowers after doing masters
i have a cousin there .....in ur city ....who is struggling to get a job but to no avail .....n don't think he has just started trying ,,...he's in search of a job for more than two years....
yes i know ....many r just drug addicts ....but if you call place all of them in 'nikemma' category then it would be highly unfair
i've been to pak , this summer ....went to lahore for a day or two ....n believe me its still hard to forget the pain in my heart ....we had some work to do in developed areas like defence ...gulberg n cantt area there,....life is ok there ...khao , piyo , mojj uRaao... ....but once you leave those areas n come to 'real lahore' like areas of multan road ... n lower mall etc. especially the areas around daata darbaar.... u feel like crying ....u feel like if you r sitting in a car ...you r comitting a crime ....when there r countless ppl ....trying to earn their living bare footed ....i saw a 7-8 yrs old girl who was selling ome little toys on the roadside while her 2-3 yrs old brother was sleeping just there under the soooo soooo hot sun
i really don't wanna go to lahore now ....ppl in posh areas look like they r not residents of the same city they look like aliens on the other side of lahore !
Afia baji
yes u r right
i think i just felt bad/guilty after seeing that scene yesterday and i was trying to justify myself by shifting blame on them… :S
we were sitting in a car and had jkust eaten pizza, burger ye wo…and these ppl were sleeping there on footpath :S …
armughal bhai yes u r right…it is easy to sit in castles and throw stones… :S
I can share an experience but ..
dont want to remember it ... :(
anyway
Some years ago at nite around 10 I was out on the road. A new bus service was started recently, the weather was pleasent so I took the bus and thought of roaming around...
went to data darbar... prayed fatiha It was weekday so relatively calm...
went to minaar-e-pakistan. Came to bus stand, started waiting for bus
A young boy came to me, asked me about some address. I told him roughly. He stood beside me. He looked quite nervous. Upon asking he told me he works in a roadside resturant and sleeps there too. He came to lahore recently, so dont know many roads.
He asked me to accompony him to that resturant (It was roughly 1 km walk). I declined as it was out of my way.He said that some guy is following him and he was scared. I asked him if he is nearby ?
He said no but he is sure. Anyway I told him that nothing will happen. There is enough light and rush on the road, so no need to worry.
Some days later ...The news came out of a serial killer, who killed around 100 young boys(may be after molesting them). Most of the victims, he caught were from that area.
:(
Code_Red...hmm...dont feel bad brother...u dont even know if that boy was among them...and insaaf karnay wala Allah hae..besides u had no way of knowing abt the serial killer...if i were in ur place i would have declined too, i mean there was light and rush, and the place was not in ur way..
