LAHORE - Eid is arriving, but beggars were already here. Each Ramazan, we see a huge increase in the number of beggars pouring out onto the streets. This is linked to the fact that during the month, people give out more alms than they do at any other time, and the beggar community - mostly controlled by huge mafias - is of course aware of this.
It is of grave concern that this social evil is being spread in an organised manner. A large number of beggars, especially women holding minor children in the laps, is seen roaming to collect alms at different places including road signals, markets, mosques, railway stations and in streets of various areas of provincial capital.
These beggars come from all age groups, from young children to old men and women who enter the city to scrounge for some money every day.
“If beggary is not tackled tactfully, the number of beggars will continue to grow,” said a social worker Ayaz Khan. He added that it was the duty of the Social Welfare Department to come up with an effective scheme to eradicate the menace.
A City District Government Lahore spokesman said they had taken extraordinary steps to discourage beggars but the issue required a long-term solution for which no shortcuts would serve the purpose. “The problem should be resolved on permanent basis which will require heavy financial inputs as well as firm laws,” he commented.
In the last week of Ramazan, organised gangs of professional beggars have swamped city centres, busy roads and even in the residential areas for ‘timely’ collection of Zakat, Fitrana, Sadqa, Khairat and other Ramazan related charities from the general public.
Due to them, citizens as facing huge inconvenience at traffic signals, food streets, open restaurants, parks, cinema houses, bus stops, railway stations, local transports, mosques, hospitals, shops and markets, around universities and other educational institutions.
Nowadays beggars in the provincial metropolis have become more professional as amputated persons, pregnant women, old male and females and infants are being used as workforce. The masterminds behind these gangs exactly know every technique of attracting sympathies of their ‘targets’ such as using different pitches of voice, emotions, dressing and way and place of begging.
It will be interesting to note these beggars employ various types of techniques to exploit the human nature, religious sentiments, spiritual beliefs during Ramazan and Eid. A popular technique used by these beggars is that they force a person by turning themselves as a constant nuisance.
Continue pleading, holding or toughing your body, coming closer, showing wounds and projection of physical or mental abnormality are their best tools. This means the only way to get rid of these demanding hands is to give them something.
A senior official of City District Government Lahore (CDGL), who is running campaigns against beggars in the city, said a beggar employs his techniques in such a manner that it appeals to human sentiments and arouse sympathy on one hand and adjusts himself to the varying situations and circumstances on the other. Women are more easily lured by such stimulated pleadings, such as predicting good health and longevity of their husbands and children, while old men and women are fit subject for the glorification of their future life and the means necessary for securing it, he added.
Most of beggars expose sores or untreated wounds to attract sympathy, while many carry medical prescriptions and disability certificates to ‘prove’ their need or helplessness while narrating pathetic stories. They also appeal to religious sentiments and sense of dependence on divine grace.
It is true that philanthropy in many ways keeps our nation running. Aid to the poor is given out with amazing generosity by individuals and groups. But, in the longer run, we also need to think of how we can escape from this trap. No one should be dependent on the charity of others. It is eventually the state’s duty to care for all its citizens - and in modern times taxation is the way to achieve this.
But one can find beggars 24 hours a day at popular shopping centres on The Mall, Barkat Market, Main Boulevard Gulberg, Multan Road, Ferozepur Road, Kachehri Road, Jail Road, College Road, Canal Bank Road, Anarkali, Liberty Market, GT road, Moon Market Allama Iqbal Town and others.
According to a CDGL official, these beggars frequently switch places with each other so that every time people see a new face and don’t tag any of them as professional.
“In a special campaign the authorities have arrested a large number of professional beggars from various city points,” the official said. The campaign would also be carried out during Eid days, he added.
However, this social evil is still on rise. Even as CDGL teams are arresting scores of beggars from city, new faces are replacing them immediately. It is the high time our government take up this issue seriously.