Hope is just a few steps away

This is no parallelism. The system of welfare and philanthropy being run successfully by former Punjab Governor and former UK MP Chaudhry Sarwar is not a parallel system. It is rather an informal manifestation of the state’s primary and mandatory obligations towards its people.

It was while attending the charity dinner thrown by Ch. Sarwar and his philanthropist friends and organizations based in UK as well as Pakistan that I came to know that Pakistani society was the biggest welfare society of the world where hardly any deserving person goes unattended. Fear of God and love for humanity are two such traits that are deeply ingrained in the people called Pakistanis who just can’t remain detached from the sufferings of their fellow beings.

In a jiffy, the donations crossed the hundreds-of-millions mark and interestingly (not surprisingly) even a senior journalist also went up to the stage and handed over a donation cheque of fifty thousand rupees to Ch Sarwar who had already received millions of donations just on one call for help. I envy the journalist not for his riches but largesse and generosity.

However, I was taken aback at the amount donated by my colleague since it reminded me of my limited resources. The end result was that I remained shy in filling the pledge-for-donation form that I picked up for signing and making my pledge for helping the people in dire need of immaculate health care and education that Ch. Sarwar’s organization and his kind-hearted companions are providing to multitudes of Pakistanis along with ‘Saaf Pani’ (safe drinking water).

It is the job of the state to provide all these amenities and basic necessities and all those individuals who responded to this call are assisting the state in fulfilling its primary obligations. That spells hope in a society that has remained eclipsed for decades with polarization and radicalization.

What was most inspiring during the entire dinner reception was the candour a la Ch. Sarwar as he loudly declared on the stage, “I am here to beg and people respond to my begging with large-heartedness”.