Good samaritans awards 2012: ‘Selfless’ humanitarians recognised for their services

Edhi, Burney amongst four recipients of honour.

LAHORE:

Reverend Senior Martin De Porres, Ansar Burney, Abdul Sattar Edhi and Pastor Dr Hizkiel Serosh were honoured with Good Samaritan Awards on Wednesday.

The award ceremony was organised by the Bright Future Society and Pakistan Christian Concern (PCC).

The event commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran and the Bible followed by an introduction of the PCC by its chairman Elvin Jaldin. He said that the PCC was an international organisation with headquarters in the UK. He said that they were working on community welfare projects including projects to provide safe drinking water.

Reverend Porres, principal of Sacred Heart Convent School, was given the award for ‘outstanding services in the field of education.’ She has served in the field for more than 50 years.

Ansar Burney, chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust and former federal minister for human rights, was recognised for his services in ‘creating greater awareness regarding human rights and human trafficking.’ Abdul Sattar Edhi was also honoured for setting up old homes, orphanages and women’s shelters.

Dr Ehsan Malik, chairman of the Institute of Business Administration at Punjab University, said that humanitarians should be remembered for their selfless work.

Peter Chisholm, US Consul General Lahore, said the US was working to ensure the welfare of the people of Pakistan.

Dr Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, said that he saw a ‘ray of hope’ in the form of humanitarians who worked for the welfare of their people. He said there was a need for Pakistan to be free of the shackles of “feudalism, Taliban-ism and adhoc-ism [sic]”.  Sattar said it was time to bring the peasants and farmers ‘to the front seat.’

He said “Jinnah’s Pakistan was to be ‘a country where Muslims would cease to be Muslims, Hindus cease to be Hindus and Christians cease to be Christians’ for national integration.” Governor Sardar Latif Khosa said that feudalism was a mindset that was not limited to landlords.

Khosa called Burney a ‘true human rights champion’ and paid rich tributes to all the recipients of the award. Khosa and Dr Sattar gave away the awards.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2012.