Dying for a loaf of bread and competing with America
By Azizullah Qazi
It’s amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people yourself is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral, self-righteous, bullying laziness.
I just want to ask the government and our beloved leaders that why they have 40 billion for investing in such things that we are not in stage to adopt like metro buses?? Half of the nation today in Pakistan is dying for a single piece of bread, for a single glass of water and half are going to compete with countries like America, Malaysia etc. WHY? We have no responsibilities toward people dying in areas like Thar? Today we need to invest in education, invest in grooming our agriculture sector, invest to create opportunities for the people who are going back home with nothing in their shopping bags after a whole day hard struggle. Why we are not investing against unemployment which is rapidly creating hard issues for the nation??? Why project like Lowari tunnel are still waiting to be complete since Bhutto sahab government whereas people of Chitral every year are faced with food shortage and even terrible accidents and deaths because of heavy snowfall. The people are dying because of serious health issues, five to six month every year during winter because they can’t reach hospitals. Why we are struggling hard to build a great state whereas the nation is dying for a single bread for their children who are the pillar of this estate and nation???
Yesterday, I met these two cute kids who are with me in the picture in Islamabad. I asked the kids where you live where is your home? Could you believe, they were crying saying that we live in a tent, their father was jobless, mom was having health problems, and the little boy was having skin problem and the cute girl has problem in her eyes. This is not a single family issue, million of families are having such problems in their families and waiting for the government to provide them opportunities that they can do something for their families and themselves as well. A very simple sentence which I think is enough to explain our current situation.
When rich people fight wars with one another, poor people are the ones to die.
The writer, a resident of Chitral, is a student at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad.]]>
Well said & well done, Azizullah Qazi. As we know that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. So, even if you had not written a single word, the picture would have conveyed your message, very clearly. The article and particularly the picture forced me to think about two important notions/concepts:
i. A random act of kindness:
The picture is showing a true and practical example of ‘a random act of kindness’. And for an act of kindness nothing is required, not wealth & money even, but a loving, caring and kindhearted soul! For instance, giving a toffee to a small kid, helping an elder person in crossing the road, or a sincere smile towards a relative, friend or even a passerby. Apparently, these are simple acts, but the happiness it give is everlasting.
ii. The importance of education:
How can education change the lives of individuals and societies? The picture is an absolute answer to the question! I remember the memorable two months (after my F.Sc exams) when I got an opportunity to teach at Alnasir Public School, where Azizullah was studying in 4th class and was exactly the same age of these children; and now an educated inspiring young man. On the other hand, besides their poverty of the kids, perhaps the only difference is that they could not receive education and they will pay high price for it during their whole life as a laborer or a beggar.
Azizullah, once again I appreciate your kindness and more importantly your being able to feel the miseries of the poor kids. I really don’t know how the beggar children would have responded to your kindness, but on their behalf I must quote a beautiful dialogue from a Hindi movie, Slumdog Millionaire:
Ab tu tou barha aadmi bn gaya hai Jamal! Acha hai, khoosh hon mai tere liye.
Tu bch gaya yar, ‘hum’ nai bch ‘sakey’, bs itna farq hai!!!
Nisar Ahmad Shah
Garam Chashma