Homeless ‘humans’ in Lahore

Walking on the footpaths of Anarkali or Bhati Gate and passing by the glorious Lahore fort, you will see a number of young and old men lying on roadsides wearing rages and, in most of the cases, smoking drugs. They are the ones who have no home, no families,
no work and no proper food. The footpaths, streets and roads are their residences while garbage centers are their dining rooms. Most of them are drug adductors and insane. Are they not human beings like us? Yes, they are. If they are, why they have no right
to live normal lives?

One can justify their demises by saying that they are so because of their own mistakes and wrongdoings. Well n good. But have we ever thought that what circumstances and situations drove them to plights? Certainly not. We pass nearby them by spitting and
covering over noses to avoid odor, but we never try to think even for a single moment that how can their sufferings be eradicated. Perhaps we do not have time and sense for this or we have no interest in humanity. Whatever the case, this attitude is unfair.

Apart from individuals, our governments, welfare departments and NGOs have turned a blind eye to this gruesome human problem which is not only polluting the environment but also painting a bleak image of historical and culturally-rich city of Lahore.

What can be the way out? First of all, I would suggest that our NGOs, which solicit millions from the foreign donor agencies in the garb of welfare human rights, must turn to practical work instead of luxurious seminars and costly media campaigns. They should
invest their funds honestly to establish shelters coupled with hospitals and technical training centers for the homeless people. The wanderers, vagabonds and drug adductors should be brought in these shelters to provide them with medical cure, psychological
healing and professional trainings in a bid to mould them into assets for the society, as they are merely acids currently.

Coming to the role of the government, I appeal to the administrators to pay a keen attention on this issue. What the governing authorities can do in this regard is to establish a separate department at the provincial level to deal with the homeless people.
This department must be tasked with cleansing the metropolis from every type of destitute elements. This milestone can be achieved by collective thorough data, bringing all the homeless men to SOS villages and welfare centers, providing them with medical,
educational and training facilities and busting the drug mafias which are playing a key role in proliferations of this menace.

If the above-mentioned steps are taken, the day is not very far when we will have turned all the homeless people into normal and useful beings. This is not a difficult task provided it is done with fair intention and strenuous efforts. We, the citizens,
should also contribute our roles in solving this predicament as a Chinese proverb states, “Lit a candle instead of cursing the darkness”. Let us lit candles of our parts. Let us think as humans. Let us create a happy and healthy society.

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Posted by Sharjeel Ahmad on Nov 14 2011. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry