That is what I call ‘love’
Numerous top officials from various government institutions and high-profile politicians attended Edhi’s funeral with full pomp and circumstance, missing no chance to be in the spotlight of media, as always.
As a show of respect, many of them are now suggesting to name a few public infrastructure after Edhi, which they believe would remind them of his legacy. But hey, do we really need a road or an airport to remind us of a man of Edhi’s stature?! Is our collective memory that weak? Nevertheless, it is! History has been a witness of our poor memory. The idea of naming buildings or creating monuments is indeed a well-intentioned, but misdirected cause that obscures and undermines the real, bigger cause that Edhi stood for.
More importantly, we don’t seem to have the aptitude to connect the dots and make sense of why things happen the way they do. As a result, we always go for temporary fixes, as in this case, we see all the focus on mere name changing.
The basic question that comes to mind is, what was it that forced Edhi sahib to sacrifice all his life for the most vulnerable segment of our society? The one word that explains everything is empathy! Obviously, it was his pure empathy and of those who financially and morally supported him that lead to the establishment of Pakistan’s largest private humanitarian organization with different projects covering all aspects of social work. But what if the same amount of altruism had existed in all the ones who rushed to Karachi just to be seen in the front row of Edhi’s funeral?! What if those officially taking oath to ensure security in Karachi and other cities had done their job right?! Edhi would not have to spend all his life picking up dead bodies from the street due to prevailing absence of law and order. What if those responsible for providing shelter and opportunity for the orphans and other marginalized populations did their job the way they are supposed to do?! Perhaps, Edhi would have dedicated his life to some other cause, had the State assumed its basic responsibilities! Almost 70 years have passed, but we are yet to have a solid ‘social protection’ in this country, to fulfill the wishes of our founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who wanted Pakistan to be a ‘democratic welfare state’.
Since then, unfortunately it is the sheer lack of empathy in those at the helm of affairs from top to bottom, form current ones to the retired lot, all of whom have literally failed to put this nation in the right direction by ignoring its basic problems that forced Edhi to take a stand and he did his part until his very last breath.
He was a humble soul, always preferring a low profile, away from all the glamours of life. Considering his personality, he would have never preferred to have the kind of funeral that he received at the sounds of loud explosions of guns and all that. Although, our small-minded countrymen think otherwise. Yet, some of them want to have Edhi being nominated for the Nobel Prize, which again shows their myopic attitude to his mission.
Alas, by our acts it is evident that we haven’t yet understood the essence of the legacy of Prophet Muhammad — the greatest exemplary figure of humanitarianism ever to walk on earth — considering that, will we ever follow in the footsteps of a tiny reflection of the light (Edhi) when we are yet to fully follow the source of the light (Prophet Muhammad); will we ever see the ray when we don’t even see the sun?!!
Islam categorically speaks of humanity. After all, what is Huqooq-ul-Ibaad (Human Rights)?! Our religion, by design, consists of two main parts: Huqooq Allah and Huqooq-ul-Ibaad (Human Rights). Allah does not need our prayers, He is the Most Merciful, He might forgive us for not praying, fasting or doing hajj (all of which are Huqooq Allah), but He will ever forgive us for violation of human rights (Huqooq-ul-Ibaad), in which by the way, animals rights are also included! Thus, Islam is pure humanity plus ‘ibadaat’ (rituals).
Getting back to the topic, it is men like Edhi and all the selfless people serving humanity unconditionally that oblige us to never lose hope on our society despite all the negativity that does exist. But again, we should find better, productive ways to pay respect to our heroes. For instance, the Taj Mahal was built by the then emperor in the loving memory of his beloved wife. Though his love is unquestionable, for the wonder of the world that he created, but one can argue that he could have memorialized her in a much fruitful way. I don’t know whether it would be a sweeping statement, but as I mentioned earlier, we have an entrenched problem of expressing our good intentions in the wrong direction. On the other hand, we have great examples to take some lessons from in the west, such as, Stanford University, which is now the world’s top university, founded by a bereaved couple in memory of their only son who died of typhoid fever. Apart from all the other achievements, this university has produced dozens of Nobel Laureates, thousands of academic leaders, scientists, innovators, business executives, writers and political leaders. To imagine the impact, it is noteworthy to mention that the companies founded by Stanford’s alumni generate 3 trillion dollars in annual revenue and have created 5.4 million jobs, rescuing millions of families out of poverty.
Now that is what I call ‘love’!
Both, the Taj Mahal and the Stanford University, were founded to memorialize their loved ones, but one became a factory of knowledge and a beacon of hope and prosperity, whereas the other is not more than a nice place for a memorable selfie! So we have to ask ourselves this question, do we also want to remember Edhi with a selfie-stick or should we find better ways, perhaps a university of Stanford’s standard?!