The projection of such humble social endeavours is the need of the hour
LAHORE: Pakistan is a country that has usually been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Be it the lack of internal cohesion, the scourge of terrorism, the incapacity of the leadership to effectively wade through the conundrums plaguing the country or the widespread prevalence of social ills like child sexual abuse or gender discrimination, each one of these problems has not only defamed us on the international stage, these have also made us hopeless regarding the country’s unpredictable future.
Adding insult to injury, our media has always stressed on the negatives rather than the positives, making all of us believe in the notion that perhaps humanity has withered, with little hope of revival. Amidst such a pessimistically constricted environment, doubting the existence of goodness in human hearts is but natural. Being a part of the same environment, there were times when I, too, personally felt that real goodness was nothing but a mere facade, a mask behind which opportunist souls are plotting to pounce on you. However, a recent visit to the Association of Fatima Jinnah Old Graduates community centre, based in Garden Town Lahore, changed my perspective on this contention. Founded in 1983 by the old graduates of Fatima Jinnah Medical University with the sole aim of assisting the underprivileged and the destitute of society, the institute aims to not only provide state-of-the-art medical facilities to such families, it also aims to provide quality primary education to children coming from such backgrounds. Witnessing helpless individuals being cared for in a hospitable manner made me realise how such institutions are doing what the government, in fact, needs to accomplish. And what they demand in return is nothing besides a little bit of acknowledgement and encouragement of the endeavour they are engaged in.
The visit made me realise that Pakistan may be embroiled in a mesh of conundrums, recovery from which seems an onerous task, but that does not necessitate that there is a dearth of God-fearing, humble souls in the land of the pure. There are still people out there who are rendering volunteer services, making it a point to serve humanity, charging nothing in return. Institutes like these dot the land but rarely have we seen their projection in the media, perhaps because their advocacy does not garner high ratings for channels, something which has sorrowfully been one of the primary concerns of media houses over the past decade. The projection of such humble social endeavours is the need of the hour for they are the positive shades that ornament the face of Pakistan, manifesting the prevalence of humanity in the hearts and minds of Pakistanis.
Marria Qibtia Sikandar
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2016.
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