‘Unjust’ cities: As the city turns in on its elderly, they prefer to stay at home

Our cities perpetuate injustice for the vulnerable, say experts

LAHORE: For Ahsanul Haq, a 72-year-old retired head clerk from Pakistan Railways, daily chores are Herculean tasks. Be it his monthly trip to the bank to collect pension, or visiting a relative somewhere across the city, Haq is severely constrained by the city around him.

“I don’t go to parks anymore for walks, because the children play cricket and football there all the time,” Haq says.

“I am an old man and I can’t walk in parks which have turned into sports ground,” he adds.

Haq is one of the millions of elderly in Pakistan, who live in cities that are increasingly becoming more hostile to them.

“The traffic is hazardous, it is difficult for pedestrians, especially of our age, even on the footpaths, buses are not easy to ride on and one can’t afford a rickshaw all the time,” Haq points out.

Urban callousness

Is Lahore is an elderly-friendly city? Experts exasperate.

“How can anyone even ask if this city is citizen-friendly?” says Pervez Vandal, former professor and a renowned architect who has worked in Lahore for over two decades.

“It’s definitely not. Recently in Lahore, a child fell in a manhole and died. Can you even imagine what happens to the elderly here on the roads.”

Vandal’s criticism is reinforced by the absence of any specific codes for the elderly in urban planning of this ever-expanding city.

Architect Ahmed Mukhtar, who has worked with the Punjab government on a number of infrastructure projects, says: “There is a general callousness, not just for senior citizens but also for special persons as well. Even the basics, like ramps and special bathroom facilities, are missing.”

The Punjab government, however, does support one old people’s home - in this city of over eight million inhabitants.

Languishing legislation

A bill titled Senior Citizens Act, 2009 was presented in the National Assembly by parliamentarian Begum Bushra Rehman ‘to promote the physical, mental, emotional, social and economic well-being of senior citizens’.

The bill made rounds between various committees for two years, and then devolution happened. The centre washed its hands off the elderly.

Post-devolution, nothing is heard about it in Punjab Assembly. “Since the Senior Citizens Bill will take money from the budget, it is likely that it might remain pending,” said a lawmaker.

Perpetuating injustice

When the city does not inhibit, humans become an obstacle.

A former government employee, who collects his monthly pension from the General Post Office on Mall Road, says: “Whoever pays the clerks on duty a Rs100 bribe, does not have to stand in the queue for their pension.”

When our cities are far from being ‘just’, those who are vulnerable will continue to suffer, says Vandal.

The issue is endemic, he says. It cannot be remedied in a year. It will be a long process where we change attitudes and see the city as an integrated whole for all its inhabitants.

Meanwhile, many like Haq are becoming increasingly isolated. “It feels like with passing time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to enjoy life outside our house. We therefore prefer staying indoors, and concentrating on our prayers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2011.