ABDUL SATTAR EDHI; A REVOLUTIONARY HUMANISTIC ICON

By Rehman Asif

“My religion is humanitarianism… which is the basis of every religion in the world,” said Abdul SattarEdhi; the lighthouse for man.

Some deeds and sacrifices are so elevated that words remain insufficient to elucidate them. Similarly, some lights are so radiant that can eclipse the luster of sun. The personality of Abdul SattarEdhi is the same light which is still sparkling and shining at its peak even after the loss of life. He is an angel who selflessly ignored his own pleasures and desires to comfort others.

He was a prominent Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian and the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan and ran the organization for the better part of six decades.He was not only a philanthropist he was the mother of motherless, the father of fatherless, for old people he was a support , for children dying on heaps of garbage he was the spirit of life, for women whom society abandoned he was a kindheartedhaven.

Such distinguished traits can be the specialty of only a saint. He was certainly a saint with all his bag and baggage comprising of shabby dresses and a pair of worn out shoes. In 1965,Edhi married to Ms. Bilquis who worked as a nurse at the Edhi dispensary. Bilquis and Edhi have four children. Mrs. BilquisEdhi manages child homes, maternity homes, girls’ hostels and nursing homes under the patronage of Edhi Foundation. Neither Edhi nor his wife Bilquis are on the payroll of the Edhi Foundation rather their maintenance depends upon the returns from the Government securities Edhi purchased many years ago.

Edhi and his family reside in a two-room apartment situated adjacent to the Edhi Foundation’s headquarter in Karachi. BilquisEdhi herself appeared as an equally effective social welfare activist and she has always balanced her professional life with her personal life.

Edhi Foundation deals round-the-clock emergency services across the country through around 250 EdhiCentres. The Centres provide for free: shrouding of unclaimed dead bodies, shelter for the penniless; orphans and handicapped persons, medical care through hospitals and dispensaries, rehabilitation of drug addicts, wheel chairs; supports and other compensations for the handicapped, family planning & counseling services, maternity services and national & international relief efforts for the victims of natural calamities regardless of creed, race, color, language, religion or politics.

Edhi Foundation operates with around three thousand volunteers including zonal heads, workers of Edhi Homes / Centres, and the ambulance drivers. These volunteers are only paid subsistence allowance in lieu of their services instead of compensation in the form of salary.The candle which was lit by Abdul SattarEdhi has now assumed as a Lighthouse of selflessness, altruism, love, munificent and generosity.How can we find words to write his greatness who sat on roads to beg for the people whom the government ignored, whom the families abandoned, what can be the way to offer him a tribute who begged money to bury the unidentified dead bodies, to feed the children thrown away by their own parents, to provide them a shelter whom their own children made homeless.

It seems he was not a man of blood and flesh but a compendium of kind emotions, he felt what others couldn’t feel, he saw to what others were blind; he was like a sponge absorbing the sufferings and pains of people around him. His magnanimous heart didn’t feel hesitation in washing the filth of decaying bodies, his mercy didn’t find it difficult to take care of the children who were considered a sin in our society.

The services he rendered in helping others are boundless because they uncover the griefs and pangs of humanity, they undress the indifference of our system and its cruel division which does not entitle the right to rightful, the self-centric attitude of society and the cupidity of people having all the resources.His pace on a thorny path surfaced the reality that our system was inhumane to protect the vulnerability of society; this system never gave him a shoulder, instead of walking with him in the tiring race of eliminating sufferings the system created hurdles for him.

While looking at the achievements of Edhi one realizes how much one person can achieve in a small period of time. Irony is that Edhi is never appreciated the way he deserves.Edhi’s interviews exposedthat there were many forces attacking his financial resources, prohibiting him from collecting alms but the man of feelings had a strong love for humanity which kept him immovable throughout his life.

All his energies were used in smoking the wounds of society but no one except common man came to stand beside Edhi; government never took pains in helping Edhi instead they relied on the services of Edhi for the relief of people. Our tribute and praise cannot justly express the work of a person who was inheritor of the hearts of the pious Calipha’s; whose life was a glimpse of their honourable lives and whose self-sacrificingcharacter was icon of pious calipha’s love for the humanity.