The menace of beggary

Beggars are visible almost everywhere these days. As much as you try to avoid them, you still run into them in every street and market. They can be seen on roadsides, at bus stops, traffic signals, market places, outside schools, and sometimes even at your doorstep. These beggars are so talented at what they do that one is often at a loss of words, and wits, as to judge who is begging out of sheer need, and who is begging because they thrive on it.

It is especially sad to see young children, indeed little kids, begging for money not because they know its value, but because they are trained to beg. They are in this horrible situation when they should be in school. These children, who should be learning tables at school instead are cramming speeches of which they don’t even know the meaning.

However, this tendency to beg is not only limited to the “poverty-stricken” out there. It seems to have become a trend not only among the public but also among the “men in power” too as they go before the world and spread their hands in front of others to beg for funds and aid that do not really reach the needy but help in adding to their own collections of gold and silver-plated crockery. Were these funds to be used in establishing schools for these kids, the world would have seen an educated and hard working Pakistani society.

RIMSHA REHMAN

Karachi