A Forgotten Humanitarian

A deep-rooted mistrust of politicians, both Pakistani and other, has proven key to Edhi’s success as a philanthropist. Everyone from General Zia to Musharraf has unsuccessfully attempted to court him. He has also humbly returned millions to the Italian government amongst others, based on his belief that all government donations come with strings attached. In abstaining from dirtying his feet in Pakistan’s filthy political waters, he has cemented a reputation enjoyed by no other in the country. This reputation has enabled everyone from rickshaw drivers to businessmen to donate to the Edhi Foundation without fret; an amazing accomplishment given the public’s little faith in Pakistan’s vastly corrupt landscape.

Other great virtues that have endeared millions to Edhi include his incredible humility – shunning unnecessary publicity and disliking reminders of his own achievements – and an insistence upon living in as simple a way as possible, regularly blaming ‘land owners and capitalists’ for the world’s woes. Thus, despite the fact that millions flow through his charity, he refuses to take a penny for himself, and chooses to live in a two room flat in one of Karachi’s most congested areas, renowned for its narrow alleyways.

Once, having sent his son Faisal to open a branch of the charity in Afghanistan, Edhi was horrified upon arrival to see that furniture and beds had been purchased. Furious of what he felt were his son’s excesses, the philanthropist refused to use the beds and opted instead to sleep on the floor with his staff.

He continues to work in excess of 12 hours a day, eats every evening with hundreds of the city’s poorest at his ‘langars’ which provide free food to the needy, and spends Fridays with disabled and mentally handicapped  children in his centres – many of whom he personally helps bathe before leading Jumm’ah prayers. In what is the kind of selflessness usually present only in story book characters, at the age of 82 Edhi can still be seen helping in calamites of every sort, whether knee deep in flood water or rubble, or pulling out dead bodies with his bare hands. He also opts to wear clothes stitched from rough material, and still begs when his organisation requires funds urgently. Skipping even his own wedding celebrations for work, the man hasn’t had a break in over 60 years.

In him we all have a role model, one that has set a high (perhaps impossibly high) humanitarian standard for everyone to aspire to. The sad fact is however, that your average Brit wouldn’t have a clue who Abdul Sattar Edhi is. When it comes to Muslims, most of the Western press would much rather blabber on about extremist fringe groups, and reactionary self-publicists like Anjem Choudhury whose 40 man following apparently warrants headlines. All efforts to have this moral giant nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize have been ignored. His book isn’t available on Amazon let alone stocked by the likes of Waterstones, and he still gets stopped, searched and disrespected at airports because of his beard.

A blogger I came across wrote on his website that in relation to Edhi, the famous quote comes to mind: ‘There is no limit to what a man can do provided he doesn’t care who gets the credit for it’; here it is truly fitting, for although many of us remain furious at his lack of recognition in the West, Edhi most likely couldn’t care less.

S U Ahmad is Politics & Society Editor at The Platform.

Photo Source: Unknown

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