The Medicine for Apathy

Source: khybernews.tv

Can you lose the ability to sense the pain of other people, if only temporarily?

And does that always necessarily mean that you are an awful person?

A depressed prefrontal cortex under the influence can be a good excuse.

But what is the excuse for so many commentators failing to acknowledge the pain of protesters in Parachinar in response to the suicide bombings targeting the Shia community.

For refusing to accept the condition of the people perishing in the Bahawalpur oil tanker tragedy.

For wilfully overlooking the tragedy of the displaced Syrian people.

For ignoring the plight of the people of Gaza Strip deprived of water and electricity.

For being glad to see Mishal Khan die a painful death just because he said something offensive, which they say he didn’t.

Maybe there should be medicine for that.

But there is no good in passing moral judgment when you are guilty of the same.

Why pick and choose tragedies, just like the people you are pointing fingers at.

Why talk about people abroad when I don’t even sympathize with the person living next door.

Why would you want to save humanity if it is people that you just can’t stand.

The fact of the matter is that I do not remotely feel the pain and agony of all those people. Even if I try.

I don’t find in myself to be bothered enough to go out for the pain and loss of so many people.

And how many causes can you possibly choose.

 

Maybe there should be medicine for that.

 

Abdul Sattar Edhi: The Mahatma of Pakistan

Abdul Sattar Edhi (1928-2016) – Source: pakvoices.com

While it was scarcely believable in itself that a man like Abdul Sattar Edhi existed in the world, his residence and service in Pakistan make it an even more extraordinary occurrence. Not because there is something so wrong with Pakistan that such a man could not live here, but because of the persistent bigotry the nation has proudly exhibited over the years.

Not because there is something so wrong with Pakistan that such a man could not live here, but because of the persistent bigotry the nation has proudly exhibited over the years.

Or perhaps it was sheer good fortune that he emigrated to Pakistan from Gujarat.

But probably people like Abdul Sattar Edhi are needed in places like Pakistan. Where no one else in there to help the helpless.

When there wasn’t anyone to help anyone, there was Edhi. Who would not shy away from begging in order to help others if he needed to.

Words fail you for some people. I have been struggling for words for nearly a week now and have not been able to find any save one.

The more I think of it, the more it becomes clear. I can hardly think of a single human being who was even remotely close to being like Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Abdul Sattar Edhi was a Mahatma.

No one else even comes close. Probably Jesus, and Gandhi. The only person in modern times who fits is Malala.

And looking at Abdul Sattar Edhi, a strong case could be made that even the other two were probably not as great in terms of the magnitude of service. And the overwhelming evidence to support it due to his existence in the modern age of information.

He did not just provide free funeral to those without means, he also helped raise abandoned infants. He gave hsi own name to nameless babies. He provided food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, hope to the hopeless.

You know, all those things that your God is supposed to do.

Source: Dawn

He showed us how to love in a world void of it, and how to live in a world where doing so is so hard.

And somehow found a partner who had it all figured out for him. It’s not easy living with a Mahatma.

Unknowingly, he became one of the last few factors uniting a nation bitterly divided on ethnic and linguistic lines, and ended up uniting them, if only for one last time, in Pakistani nationalism that many of them despise so much.

Yet his loss was a global one.

And it was again remarkable that we are lucky to call such a man a Pakistani citizen. And to have had him serve our nation, purely out of his dedication to humanity.

In a society filled with hateful, bigoted beasts thirsty for the blood of the innocent by accusing them of blasphemy, he even served those who declared him an infidel. He even served those who badmouthed him. And are still doing him, harming his legacy while he is gone.

He never discriminated.

Abdul Sattar Edhi was the Mahatma of Pakistan.

 

Who said saints were a thing of the past?

But probably now they are.

And we don’t even know how to mourn such a loss.

RIP Abdul Sattar Edhi.

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