Abdul Sattar Edhi was a national asset, and lived a very simple life despite his international celebrity status
KARACHI: Abdul Sattar Edhi was born into a business family in Gujarat , India, in 1928. He migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition with his family and settled in Karachi. He found his niche while serving humanity very early on his life. He served the distressed and needy for more than six decades. He established the Edhi Foundation in 1951, which operates several other organisations under its umbrella. These include orphanages, shelters, old-age homes, maternity homes and palnas (cradles).
The Foundation’s fleet of ambulances is one of the largest in the world and has been recorded in the Guineas book of World Records. He was awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan and I sincerely wish he will be awarded the Nobel prize posthumously.
Abdul Sattar Edhi was a national asset, and lived a very simple life despite his international celebrity status.
Prominent political leaders including heads of states , prime ministers and dignitaries from all walks of life have not only expressed their grief over his death but have paid glowing tributes to him. The messiah of humanity is no more with us but we as a nation must strive to keep his dream alive. By helping out the underprivileged and the needy in any way we can, we can keep his spirit alive. May God exalt his position in the hereafter and rest his soul in peace, and grant courage and patience to his family and the nation to bear this irreparable loss.
Javaid Bashir
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2016.
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