In memoriam: Major road to be named after Edhi, says Shahbaz

Javed Hashmi says his eyes should be donated after his death as a tribute to Edhi

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced on Saturday that a major road in the City would be named after philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi to honour his memory. He was speaking to the media after attending Edhi’s funeral in Karachi.

Sharif said that with Edhi’s death the country had lost its greatest ambassador for the cause of humanitarian work. He said Edhi represented the bright side of the country. He said he had always been inspired by Edhi’s personality. “He taught me the importance of self help, of standing by the poor and of leading a simple life,” he said. He said those speaking of bringing about a change should realise that it required hard work and could not be accompanied by just delivering speeches. Edhi’s life was a model in this regard, he said.

Governor Rafiq Rajwana expressed grief on Saturday over the news of Abdul Sattar Edhi’s death.

In a press statement, he said Edhi’s services for humanity could never be forgotten. He wished strength to Edhi’s family to bear the loss.

Speaking to the media in Multan, former minister Javed Hashmi said that he was deeply impressed by Edhi’s decision to donate his organs. He announced that he had decided that following his death his corneas should also be donated to help those in need. He said this was his way of paying a tribute to Edhi.

Pakistan Peoples Party leader Mian Manzoor Wattoo said that Edhi’s death was a national tragedy. In a condolence statement, he said Edhi’s services to the cause of humanity were without a match. “Edhi was a great ambassador for the country all over the world. It will be impossible to fill the void caused by his death,” he said.

Wattoo said no government could match the services rendered by Edhi for the cause of the humanity. “He served people without concerning himself with differences of religion, nationality, race or caste,” he said.

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq led a funeral prayer in absensia for Edhi at the JI headquarters in Mansoora. PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi said it was the government’s responsibility to continue Edhi’s mission after his death.

In a statement issued by the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT), Khuram Nawaz Gandapur said that the person spending billions of rupees from the public exchequer to advertise himself as the Khadim-i-Ala should refer to Edhi’s life to see that the true servants of the people did not need to spend money to win public’s affection.

He said Edhi had been recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen central general secretary Allama Nasir Abbas Jafri expressed grief at Edhi’s death and said that the deceased would be remembered for ever for his selfless philanthropy. In a press statement, Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam Bahawalpur general secretary Allama Shafqatur Rehman said the entire nation was grieved by Edhi’s death. “He spent his whole life in the service of the humanity. May Allah accept his deeds,” he said.

The Awami Workers’ Party announced that it would observe three days of mourning over Edhi’s death. It said the party believed that humanitarian work should not be considered apolitical. It said the country had lost a person with unflinching commitment to progressive political ideals. “Edhi’s services could not be categorised only as acts of charity. He saw his work as part of a deeply political fight for equality and justice. He lived a life stripped of luxuries and chose to give his all to build an infrastructure of services that should have been provided by the state,” it said.

The AWP said that a political commitment informed all of Edhi’s initiatives. Lifting bodies of political activists from roadsides and setting up orphanages for children born out of wedlock and to parents who could not afford a decent life for them were some of the many political acts undertaken by Edhi Foundation, it added. It said Edhi had time and again clarified that fight between the oppressed and the oppressor was the only legitimate struggle for him. At several occasions, he had expressed the influence of communist ideas on his work, it added.

PTI Multan leader Amir Dogar said Edhi’s life should serve as a lesson to the country’s leaders that service to the cause of humanity should be rendered irrespective of differences of caste, colour, creed and religion.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2016.