Interesting initiative « PKPolitics Discuss

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Interesting initiative

(33 posts)

gv
Member

http://blog.dawn.com/2010/06/16/changing-lives-one-plate-at-a-time/

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 15:45 #
shimatoree
Member

It is another one of those "MAKE ME FEEL GOOD" charades of the Westoxicated urban rich of Pakistan to deal with their guilt.

It is absurd.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 16:17 #
gv
Member

why westoxicated?

is charity solely a western perogative?

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 16:43 #
shimatoree
Member

gv

you must give me a little liberty to indulge in a bit of POLEMICS! by using borrowed wrods from Jalal Ale Ahmad of GHARBZADGI.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 17:11 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

*sigh*. Is this the way of Muhammad (SAW) ? i.e., to;

(1) help people run away from problems of life ?
(2) live off of left-overs of others ?

(On an intellectual level) I don't think so.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 17:50 #
gv
Member

@shimatoree

as you wish.

i would prefer a genuine criticism of why the initiative is especially weak or a charade -

in my eyes the positives are that this seems to be a more efficient way of providing a langar to the very poor and destitute..

the negative being that it encourages a 'begging' mentality amongst the poor....

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 17:50 #
zia m
Member

Hats off to the few amongst us, who are positively contributing to the society unlike most of us who like to engage in polemics.

I find our condemnation of westoxication through the use of internet technology rather amusing. :)

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 17:51 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

I see it as yet another way of running away from reality.

Islam teaches us Muslims to struggle, to face reality, rather than to find ways of running away from it.

For decades now, people of Pakistan have taken up such initiatives. To what end ? Has it helped people of Pakistan over these past decades ? No!. Our people have gotten worse off, as a result.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 17:52 #
gv
Member

@hk

i thought you were a big propopent of 'real' contributions to society.

Does this not fall into that category? These people are helping
1) Povery Alleviation
2) Waste Reduction

Are these not two positive benefits to society?

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 18:39 #
shimatoree
Member

gv

I am always amused by a Gucci shoes wearing woman with a top notch dress made to order with 15 million tons of make up and lipstick and a 500 rupee hair do doing social work to alleviate hunger and poverty by taking away left over food from someone and then having their picture put in the paper.

The idea to WASTE NOT is a good one

This does nothing to poverty alleviation.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 19:21 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

@gv: I think, they are doing it the wrong way.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 19:27 #
zia m
Member

everybody can't be mother Teresa or Mr Edhi.
"If you can't feed 100 people, then just feed one."
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 19:45 #
moonkhan
Member

hi! any one knows ,from where i can get the talat hussain interview in herald.please guide me ,i'll be very thankfull.

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 21:04 #
zia m
Member

@moonkhan,
Do you mean Talat's interview with UK Foreign Minister?

http://pakistanherald.com/Program/Live-With-Talat-June-25-2010-Talat-Hussain-4198

Posted 1 year ago on 28 Jun 2010 21:23 #
gv
Member

@hk

how would you suggest they do it?

@shimatoree

agreed there is that possiblity that the motives behind the programme are misguided but who cares as long as the poor benefit and there is less waste in our society

We tend to have a rather cavalier attitude to waste and extragavance.. if someone is helping bring awareness than this is a positive thing.

Posted 1 year ago on 29 Jun 2010 9:37 #
alirazaster
Disabled upon Request

its better to teach someone to fish who lives near a river than to catch a fish for him once in a while!

providing someone with the leftovers is like killing the dignity of the person receiving it!

Posted 1 year ago on 29 Jun 2010 9:46 #
gv
Member

@rizvi,

thats the point i was looking for - yes i agree with you there..

however the food they use is not leftovers off people's plates its the cooked food that does not get served that day which is frozen over night in sealed plastic bags and reheated the next day to be distributed. (read comments at the end of the article)

The way i look it at is that it is not dissimiliar to a 'langar' except that the food is entirely free to the distributor

Also for someone who living on <Rs 200 a day is it not better for them to be able to save some of that money towards other creature comforts if they can obtain food for free.

Which reminds me - (haris the concept of distributing free food is an old one in most islamic countries )

Posted 1 year ago on 29 Jun 2010 9:55 #
moonkhan
Member

zia m ,no tthats not.in this forum i read about talat's interview,in which he said he was threaten by mqm.i want that interview

Posted 1 year ago on 29 Jun 2010 11:37 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

@gv: Even though I'd like to accept as well as praise this effort to help people in need at the 'humanitarian' level, I don't like it when I look at it from the 'intellectual' level. For my intellect, my knowledge of Islam, my knowledge of life tells me better way of treating people is possible.

This effort would be highly desirable at a time and in circumstances where nothing better is possible.

Having said that, I agree with Rizvi.

I remember a hadees of Muhammad (SAW) where when a person came to him, he (SAW) put him to work. He made him 'earn' his food and good life.

It goes like this;

A person came to Muhammad (SAW). He had nothing in his possession other than one axe and one cup/bowl. Muhammad (SAW) sent him to cut trees.

The hadees goes on. I can't explain the hadees better, because I don't remember it myself. I myself need to look it up.

This is an important lesson for human beings to learn i.e., there is no free lunch. That human beings must learn;

(1) to 'struggle' in life / to 'make the effort' to improve their lives
(2) to think on their own
(3) that in order to make things better, to make life better, they need to struggle

I wish I had better words for conveying this message.

Posted 1 year ago on 02 Jul 2010 22:30 #
gv
Member

@hk

most poor people in pakistan do 'dehari' of some kind

they still don't make enough to make ends meet.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 20:27 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

I would argue, most people are poor in Pakistan, because they;

(1) are dishonest
(2) are unjust
(3) are afraid
(4) don't believe in self reliance
(5) don't want to educate themselves
(6) don't want to struggle
(7) won't hand over power to those who deserve to have it
(8) they are bent on making wrong decisions, taking wrong actions
(9) etc etc

I would argue .. that for most people, this condition of being poor is 'self inflicted' .. by choice.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 20:43 #
gv
Member

@haris

most people in pakistan are poor because the existing system rewards nepotism, dishonesty and corruption

there is no education for them to receive

and because the power elite do not want the status quo to change

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 20:55 #
achtung
Member

haris bhai

agar aap khuda na khuata kissi ghareeb kay ghar mein paida hotay tou aap ko pata chalta ghurbat kia hoti hy aur struggle kar kay roti kamana kitna dushwar hy. baatein karna bohat aasan hy.

aur ghareebon ko unjust keh kar aap insaaniat ki tazleel kar rahay ho.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 20:58 #
shimatoree
Member

The issue of poverty in Pakistan has nothing to do with the following-

Quote "

(1) are dishonest
(2) are unjust
(3) are afraid
(4) don't believe in self reliance
(5) don't want to educate themselves
(6) don't want to struggle
(7) won't hand over power to those who deserve to have it
(8) they are bent on making wrong decisions, taking wrong actions
(9) etc etc. " End of Quote.

This is just a diatribe and I feel unjust, unkind and put forth with lack of feelings for those that are downtrodden. To use a Hadith as a slogan is unfortunate but so it goes.

The issue of being poor has to do with the following FACTS- and I mean FACTS.

1. You are born in a POOR uneducated family.

You live in a country where human beings are considered less than human by those that are fortunate to be born in NOT so poor families and exploited to the HILT with help from social and religious edicts.

Being afraid is normal for those that have to face the powerful, cruel exploiters every day of their life.

I am stunned by this statement . I had assumed
( wrongly) that all those that comment on this blog at least had some DARD E DIL but this comment negates that.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 21:02 #
haider3
member

Bravo shimatoree, you expressed that beautifully.

And I wish to add: no DARD E DIL, no Islam, HK. Islam is not about politics, it's about the heart and soul.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 21:16 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

I'm not talking politics here. I'm talking fact.

People of this nation literally want to remain miserable. They want to live a miserable life.

Go out in the masses and see it for yourself.

I have personally offered people better choices, better options for them in life. So they'd live a prosperous life. They refused. They chose the wrong path. They insisted to continue on it.

I'm not alone in showing others a better path in life. Many have tried to reason with people and have been refused over the decades.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 21:22 #
haider3
member

HK, I can't believe what you are saying. The poor I know are not at all like that. They welcome any help you can offer them. But they are also very proud people. Perhaps the help was not offered properly. One made it sound like a favour one was doing them when it should be the other way round. I don't know. I have only ever known families grateful for life if you can in anyway improve the dire conditions in which they live. One word of warning: go among the poor as their friend and equal, never as a teacher bearing the torch of all learning and right.

Posted 1 year ago on 03 Jul 2010 22:36 #
shimatoree
Member

Mirza Sahib :

I cannot write in URDU so I will do the best I can.
Long time ago one of my elders told me the following- It is a verse from your name sake Mirza Assadullah Khan Ghalib-

DARD E DIL ke wastey paida kia Insan ko
werna atta'At key liyeh KUM na they KARUBIAN-( Angels).

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 1:15 #
NNL
member

Nothing but a good PR thingy for the Rich to ease their own conscience.

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 2:55 #
haider3
member

shimatoree, thank you. That was beautiful and very fitting. How far we seem to have drifted away from Diogenes.

NNL - A PR thingy certainly. But if we don't do it because Allah enjoined us to do so, taking care of the poor and the needy amongst us, then let us do it at least for PR reasons. On the day we stand up and face our Maker, we shall feel less ashamed of ourselves perhaps.

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 8:24 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

I also know poor people who are good, and also those who are not ready to be good.

Having said that, its the duty of the rich, the privileged, the educated in our society to struggle to improve the lives of those who are poor within our ranks. I agree.

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 10:16 #
haider3
member

Thanks, HK. It is most definitely our duty, our Muslim duty.

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 10:30 #
hariskhan
member

Assalam-o-Alaikum-Warahmat-ULLAH ALL,

I will pray for the poor. And I'll do my part in helping to improve their lives, as an individual and as part of this collective.

Posted 1 year ago on 04 Jul 2010 11:11 #