Have mercy on our children.

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 24.                           Have mercy on our children.

I grew up in the land of the pure with hope , will and determination . What happened from 1947 onwards is written on the face of  each person that inhabits here -a bitter story of betrayal except who enjoyed good times as never before   . I am dwelling on its political history . Suffice to say that each period of army regime , except for a brief period when General Yahya Khan was in power , brought new hope .     

A headline appeared in yesterday’s  daily DAWN that another health project “ falls prey to ‘ Q’ tag” . The subtitle was that the Government has failed to release funds for the completion of Fatima Jinnah dental institute package . The meaning of the news item is that the Government was playing politics with the education and dental health of the people of the Punjab for not fault of the latter .

The political government  in 2008  decreased the allocation of the Higher Education Commission with the result that those Pakistan  students studying  abroad were forced to beg at the entrances of the mosques till the Government realized that it was embarrassing for it . Ironically the military government of General Musharraf which made the Commission hyper active and appointed a learned man to be the Chairman . It was never fund starved and showed results . During this period , the number of PhDs were doubled . More students were sent abroad for higher studies . More universities were opened . Incidentally sending scholars for higher education was too initiated by a military government .

Two of my favourite pictures are a person absorbed in offering prayers and children going and coming from school . I wish to gaze at each picture for hours very intently if I had the time .Childhood is a golden period . It was a treat for me to watch young boys and girls coming and going from school : girls in their tidy dresses and boys with uniform and hair disheveled playing pranks with each other

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When I was at school and at College , there was no concept of tuition . My school fees ( Rs 35/-) were affordable . Even the Gordon College fees (Rs 35/-) were affordable . In the Cadet College , Hasan Abdal , I enjoyed a scholarship of Rs 100/- per month . That meant that my late father had to pay only Rs 50/- per month as fees for his son to be educated in the finest College . The common schools charged a quarter rupee as fees .

 A couple years ago , there were news that tutors for  children of kindergarten classes were  demanding Rs 4000/- per child as tuition fees .  I labeled it “Education Genocide “ .A lady ,a mother , who was also  an employee of the UN, told my wife that. There were two option for her . She decided for an easier option than to sacrifice her well paid job .

Malala was “ guilty “ of espousing female education by the opponents . The Tehreek Taliban Pakistan claimed that they had shot her . She was awarded the Nobel Prize last year for the same guilt  .  But what about those influential people , the feudal lords , the landlords who deny education to their menials , serfs , the kammies . This is another form of ‘Education Genocide ‘. Young boys and girls of ages nine or ten , who have the rights given by Islam and the Holy Prophet ( Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him )  to go to school  and be educated  , are forced to work as domestic servants and bear the cruelty of their masters and mistresses . Boys are engaged at garages . The same treatment are meted out to them by the garage owners .

The Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) paid particular emphasis to knowledge . There are sayings attributed to him about the importance of knowledge . Yet the common people , the villagers , serfs , the menials  are denied this right .

   Before Partition , the children were taught good behavior  . Those included to respect

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1.          their parents

2.          The people older to you

3.          Others ( relatives ,neighbours and even servants )

4.          Not challenge elders even if they were wrong .

5.          Not to humiliate who those  were inferior to them.

6.          They were taught the different modes of salutations   while writing letters  viz. father , mother , grandparents , uncles and aunts , the principal/ headmaster , to the teacher .The details are found in Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi’s  priceless book ’Behishati Zaivar’ . With the country’s   economic development , the values which we cherished for centuries  ,have  eroded . This is the price we are paying .

The children were taught good behaviour as a part of the curriculum and both at school as well as at home .  Since I was taught in missionary school , Muslims were taught “ Moral Science “, a form of Catechism for eg. Did man make himself . To which , the answer was no . man did not make himself . God , the Maker of the entire universe made him .

However , a few belonging to the old school remain . I am an old fashioned man . I like old fashioned things and ideas . When we were young , the fathers would leave homes for work while mothers would remain behind in the home . The mothers would tell their children stories having morals in them or stories of the Muslims warriors of old so that the young ones would emulate them . My wife , an educated lady , took great interest in the education and upbringing of our children particularly our daughters .While our daughters did masters in the fields of their choice , my wife took pains that the daughters should be conversant with the Holy Quran and Tahfeem ul Quran , a scholarly and explanatory commentary on the Quran spread over 10 volumes by Maulana Maududi , an eminent Islamic Scholar . This was another form of education which the newer generation lacks . Economic compulsions  are forcing both parents to work to ease the pressure on the husband or the wife alone .This is left to the servants , the maids or the drivers to impart this form of training to the young ones .

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

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March 5, 2015 

GRIM THOUGHTS

                                                                                                                                      81

   23.                                      GRIM THOUGHTS

Once  an Islamic saint ,Sheikh Saadi , complained to Allah (God) that his shoes were worn out and torn . He saw a man who had no feet . Sheikh Saadi  sought Allah’s forgiveness.

I always seek Allah’s Mercy and pray to save me from  hellfire and  infirm old age when one loses one grip on mind and body .I have seen both parents go blind after an unsuccessful eye surgery . I am about 70 and ill .  One of my friends used to tease me on my illness till he too became diabetic . I would tell him to guard his health by praying to Allah for His Divine Mercy  .

In the space of two months , I have experienced two deaths that of the late Dr. Ghazi Haqqi( multi organ failure ) and the late Bhai Mumtaz (old age and various medical complications) , both were  cousins ( the former from my father’s side while the latter’s mother’s side) as well as the infirmity of Dr. Ikram Mohyuddin , my dear friend and the old age of Professor Muhammad Jamil . another friend and class fellow of Masters in English Literature who is  85 plus .

Mumtaz Bhai died  the other day . He was also 85 plus . He and Professor Jamil were class fellows  in the Indian city of Ambala from where both migrated to Pakistan in 1947 . At that age , both were infirm and complained of sickness . The latter told me that he had a difficulty  hearing when I telephoned him to convey the sad news of the death of Mumtaz Bhai .

Last evening , when the mourners were carrying Mumtaz Bhai’s body to the nearby Mosque for funeral prayers and burial . I accompanied them thinking it was at the short distance because I have venous ulcers on my feet hence a difficulty in walking .( I walked  five or six miles a day till I fell ill ). I met a distance relative , Mr. Ahmed Ali Qureshi ,who was a heart patient . I  began walking with him and his grown up son . He told me that his doctors told him that there was nothing they could do further for him . I was hoping to hitch a ride in any mourner’s car . After walked some distance, he  sat down  on the roadside and asked his son to bring the car . Fortunately a car stopped for me too . Among the mourners , there were a few who had same difficulty walking .  I realized later that I  was able to walk the way back  from the Mosque . Of course , I had taken a pain killer before coming .This morning my wife told

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that Mr.Qureshi’s loving wife had  assorted illnesses , had been diagnosed as cancer  and heart trouble .

Muslims have been taught through the reading of the Noble Quran that they would be put to tests , deaths , sickness ,loss of limbs , monetary loss and they have to face these tests , never to complain and never to lose Faith in the Infinite Mercy of Allah  . Muslims have before them  the example of the Prophets particularly the Noble Prophet , Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) and his companions    and how they faced the tests one after another with fortitude and determination . The Noble Quran describes the Prophets and other holy persons who were slain in pursuit of their mission to spread Allah’s Commands  

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad.

Novermber 06 , 2013

GORDON COLLEGE

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22.                              GORDON COLLEGE

I am not well . I can barely move because I have wounds covering the entire my right calf up to the foot .In addition , both legs were swollen  although the swelling has receded. Besides I cant drive .Previously in the dark . But now even during the day , I barely drive around Naval Anchorage where we live . This why despite my promise to Amer , the younger brother of Amera, that I will come and condole her death in the fourth week of January , I could not make it . It is true that on a couple of occasions , I , accompanied by my family ,went to Rawalpindi Cantonment to visit my married daughter .

My dear friend ,Navid Zafar , told me about Amera’s death from cancer He told that an obituary notice was placed in the daily ‘The News’ by the family . I somehow missed it although the first thing I do is read the obituaries on a particular page . Not that I am happy over somebody's death but I find newspapers dull and a waste of time because there are hardly any interesting news .

I joined the Masters in English late almost one month and half late in October 1964 . There were many girls in the class . Two girls were for most of the time together .One was slightly taller than the other .Gradually I came to know their names . The shorter girl was Amera .Both came from Kinnaird College , Lahore .Soon the taller girl, Fareeda Hasan, joined the Government College, Lahore. And Amera was left alone because she did not mix up with the class' other girls because of a difference in temperament .Gradually she made friends with those girls who were inferior to her in their social standing . With males because in the class , there were only four or five young men, including yours truly , who joined the class directly after graduation the rest worked in offices , her behaviour was forbidding so much so that a man named her 'dictator'.

She was a quiet and studious girl .She would quietly drive away or call her car in any vacant period we had .The only dialogue she had

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with males in the class was to enquire if we had any class that day . However , she stood third in the examinations in the University of the Punjab . I was in Karachi then . I sent her a telegram with the words "Splendid Performance".

I joined the civil service . But we used to meet in the National Institute of Modern Languages , Rawalpindi . Brig . Nazir Ahmed , the then Director of the Institute also came to sit down with us . Then the faculty was like a family . Beneath her cold façade , she possessed a warm heart : a heart of gold .She was moved by poverty although she was a daughter of a well known doctor of Rawalpindi . Two incidents come to mind . Before a party being held in the National Institute of Modern Languages , I found her placing eatables in different plates . I asked her what she was doing . She replied that she was setting plates for lower staff of the Institute .On another occasion on Eid , I was standing in the sun in a friend's house opposite the Institute. I saw her car entering it. I went to meet her .On seeing me , she got out the car and greeted me warmly .She had brought meat for the staff of the Institute .

However , her life was full of misfortunes .She married late .After 6 or 7 years of marriage , she was divorced .She was the mother of three lovely children .Soon after her divorce , she began to fall ill .But her illness could not deter her resolve to work to the best of her abilities in the Institute of Regional Studies and be a good mother .

Mahfooz ur Rahman
Her old class fellow

Good night, Sweet Prince

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21.                        Good night, Sweet Prince

TO ALL YOUNG GIRLS AND MEN OF COMSATS WHO ARE PROSECTIVE   SCIENTISTS
, MATHEMATICIANS AND  ENGINEERS

Mustafa Mahfooz . A father fondly remembers


Good night, Sweet Prince
May flight of angels sing thee to thy rest
(William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’)

I have been  asked to write something about Mustafa , my beloved son ,
who died last week of Thalassemmia and other medical complications . I
am sure his friends and classmates knew more about  the young man that
he was . In some respects , very close friends know a lot more about a
  particular person than parents do.

He was determined to outshine others in all fields despite his
handicap . Even there , he was unwilling to let others know that he
was sick . And in that we shared that feeling . He immensely cared for
others . He was very humane . He never hurt others feelings . Whenever
he felt by others’ insensitive behaviour , he never showed it . An
indication of his true feelings towards man and beast can be viewed on
his wall on Facebook.

As long as Mustafa was young , I used to take him to PIMS . But never
in his youth , did he bother me . He used to go himself for his
regular blood transfusions or to meet doctors .
                                                                             

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He was a young man of fine tastes . While building our house , Mustafa
designed cupboards for the kitchen and the dining room which were
thoroughly liked by people who came to the house .

I had trained my children to read all available literature of  each
medicine which is advised by doctors before using it . Mustafa and I
had read essays written by different authors about Thalassemmia .
Besides , he had been discussing his ailment with doctors of PIMS,
Shifa International and Excel Labs.

Since he was diagnosed in 1987 ,some of our  friends and relations
have been asking us if we knew the limited life span of patients of
Thalassemmia. Our replies were always in the affirmative . We as a
family are  born optimists . My family and I had been looking at the
positive side of things while praying for the Divine Mercy . Indeed ,
his death was a huge shock for us . However , looking at the positive
side, my family and I are fully satisfied that we did the best we
could .

We are educated people and education teaches us to love not only
healthy children but also those who are less healthy. My sick child
went to the same educational institutions as my other children ..We
tried to provide the best possible medical treatment to him. He  got
care, love and affection at home ,at his educational institutions
particularly COMSATS and  at  the PIMS from the doctors and nurses
alike and by the staff members.
 A couple of times, we took him to the CMH, Rawalpindi to be examined
there. Lt. General Muhammad Saleem, the former  Surgeon General
Pakistan Army, went out of his way to help us. In 2006,  when Mustafa
was hospitalized with Malaria at the Federal Government Services
Hospital, Islamabad, Dr. Iftikhar Malik, the Head of Medicine , paid

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great attention to him. While my son was hesitant whether or not to go
in for a PhD programme, given his health , I gave him my  full support
saying that there are many MSc (Maths) in Pakistan .But to do a PhD in
the subject would be a rarity in Pakistan . Always remember increase
your demand . Please read the essay  written Dt. Pervaiz Hoodbuoy
‘Education in Pakistan’.

I also take this opportunity to take my mission further  .  Placed
below is a copy one of my letters on the same topic  that was
published by the daily ‘ Pakistan Observer’ in June 2010 .
‘My (late) son is doing his PhD in Applied Mathematics. Yesterday I
was going through his papers. At the end of the paper, there was a
long list of references of the authors and their books or papers on
that particular subject. There were only a couple Muslim authors among
them was son’s Professor/Supervisor. In the past Muslims occupied a
prestigious position in sciences. Al Khawarzimi, Omar al Khayam and
many more. Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I appeal to
the Muslim youth to strive hard and excel in basic sciences without
which the dream of Muslims advancement will be futile.’

The Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) advised
every Muslim man or a woman to seek knowledge even if you have to go
to China . If his advise was confined to religious knowledge , the
best seat of learning was the Masjid e Nabvi . I also take this
opportunity to recommend two books to the students of this illustrious
seat of learning namely COMSATS  .   A French  Scholar ,Dr . Maurice
Bucaille has written two very good books ‘ The Quran , the Bible and
Science ‘ and ‘The Quran and Modern Science’ . Dear students  of
science , please read the Quran carefully . There are many allusions
to science in it: the earth , the sun, the moon and the stars , the
atom and universe.
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Always remember your forefathers viz  Al Kwararzimi , Jabir bin Hayyan
, Omar Khayyam , Farabi , Al Razi etc   were great scientists who
derived their learning from the Holy Quran .

MAHFOOZ UR RAHMAN

Islamabad

October 15 , 2010

GLOOMY THOUGHTS.

                                                                                                                                      72
                           

20.                                         GLOOMY THOUGHTS.

The other morning I got up at 3.45 AM to offer my Salaat (prayers , Urdu Namaz ) . Saad , my son , also came down for the same purpose . But , before that , I had recharge my batteries with a cup of hot tea . I went to kitchen to prepare tea both of us  while he was in my bathroom . I fell into thinking : what was the purpose of my life ?  I got depressed suddenly  with those thoughts.

Such moods are frequent with me . In the 1980s , I watched two movies , “ Stop the world , I’m getting off’ and ‘ It’s a mad , mad , mad world ‘ .

I was born a romantic . I think most thinkers are like that . This means that I am a round , and not a flat , character . Students of English Literature are familiar with the terms . My Professor in Gordon College , Rawalpindi ,  the late Reverend Francis Xavier  (God Bless him ) , once told a group of students , including yours truly, that pessimists always enjoy good health because they think that life would never get better . I am too very restless  . I want to something for the people . But disappointments made me a cynic.    

After my retirement , I took writing as an avocation . To begin with, my purpose was to convey a message  to all Muslims and particularly the people of Pakistan to acquire  high and quality education, to awaken them to the demands of the time that Science , Economics , Mathematics have made  remarkable advancements . The developed world is achieving  its goals . During the past seven years , I have written 118 articles/essays in this vein . I have also written to warn the Muslims and the Pakistanis of Allah’s Azab . But I am disappointed to note that nobody is pushed about my writings. The other day , my son , Saad , and I were discussing it with an old  childhood friend , Haroon Niazi , and his  sister . She told us that she had been writing for the press for umpteen numbers of years  and she failed to arose the people’s interest .  She , none the less   said that I am able to have a  ‘catharsis’ .

  

Sometimes I have  urges to settle in another place , another country  , USA , Canada , UK , Germany , Australia or Malaysia  and choose a small village or a

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suburb to live . But the developed countries are closing their borders to new immigration  particularly for the Muslims.  Besides I am 69  . It will be difficult for my family and I firstly to migrate and secondly to adjust to new surroundings .

My  feeling of disgust springs from romanticism . The Quaid e Azam achieved Pakistan with his steely determination . The Quaid’s Pakistan has been replaced by a new Pakistan whatever it means .  Every government and every leader  make this claim from the separation of East Pakistan from Pakistan in December 1971  onwards. But the lives of the ordinary people of Pakistan has worsening  from to year .

  

Within Pakistan , many voices are being heard from one of the spectrum to another . But the voices are coming from the well heeled , the  members of the elite and Civil Society  that Pakistan should be secular . Others are quoting the Quaid e Azam’s saying and referring to the Objectives Resolution of 1949 . Recently during the screening of nomination papers for the Elections 2013 , Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were being attacked very bitterly . The attackers went so far as to attack Islam . Again  the attackers were the Members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the members of the Civil Society . Already cries are being heard that there are plans to rig the elections .

On the other hand were diehard supporters of Islam viz Dr. Shahid Masood , Orya Maqbool Jan , Zaid Hamid , Syed Bilal Qutab (sedate) and the Islamic Scholars . The former three are relatively aggressive. Orya Maqbool Jan has  been repeatedly warning us  of Allah’s Azab. Zaid Hamid emphasizing on the return of the days of  Khulfa e Rashideen and Ghazna e Hind .

These people are trying hard to awaken us  for many years. But the majority either do not hear us or they are heard of hearing because they are happy with their power and wealth . History tells us that since Hazrat Muhammad because the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) till he migrated to Medina , he succeeded in making  Muslims of  only one hundred people .

The incident reminds us that the way is both long and arduous .

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Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

April 9 , 2013

      

EMPTY VESSELS MAKE MUCH NOISE .

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19.                       EMPTY VESSELS MAKE MUCH NOISE .

My dear Rao Ashraf sahib,

Before Partition , the children were taught good behavior . Those included to respect

1.          their parents

2.          The people older to you

3.          Others ( relatives ,neighbours and even servants )

4.          Not challenge elders even if they were wrong .

5.          Not to humiliate who those  were inferior to them.

6.          They were taught the different modes of salutations   while writing letters  viz. father , mother , grandparents , uncles and aunts , the principal/ headmaster , to the teacher .The details are found in Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi’s  priceless book ’Behishati Zaivar’ . With the country’s   economic development , the values which we cherished for centuries  ,have  eroded . This is the price we are paying .

However , a few belonging to the old school remain . I am an old fashioned man . I like old fashioned things and ideas .  However ,by virtue of being in the service of Pakistan and dealing with different people with their idiosyncrasies and suffering from illness for the long time tempered me .  Fortunately I am not alone . A few days ago , Masud Hasan , in his weekly column  ‘RSVP’ narrated an incident involving he and  his late older brother , Khalid Hasan , the cricketer and himself  a noted columnist , settled in the USA . Masud sent the family an electronic Christmas Card . His brother did not  like it a bit . Khalid told Masud to  choose a card ,buy it and send it .   

His spiritual guide  told  Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh , the real ruler of Lahore , to beg for a year . When the year finished , he was told to beg for another year to ensure pride was eliminated in the person of the latter . My advice to all Pakistanis to undergo the same exercise for at least one year .  We beg the donor countries/agencies  shamelessly for loans , foreign trips from anyone who is in the

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position to oblige , foreign postings  etc . but behave arrogantly in front of our own people . 

 Sheikh (late) Ikram Ali , the father of my childhood friend , Tariq Ikram ,a mentor and a very noble man, once told yours truly that knowledge is a vast ocean and he had just stepped in . If a gentleman at the age 70 plus can say that with his vast knowledge and experience of the world , I am still struggling to learn . I am 69 and  learning . I learn daily  from my children and grandchildren , I learn what others  had written  or what their experiences were .  

Once I attended a memorial service to honour a late Professor of Gordon College , Rawalpindi in the Jubilee Hall of the College .  His children , a boy , Pervez Samuel Dean , and a girl , Ms Nilofer Dean , were with me when I was doing my Masters in English Literature . They  were my  fast friends . On entering the Hall , I at once felt very small : the hall was full of grey heads sitting . If someone was a double Masters , a gentleman sitting behind  me  was a triple PhD . I remember a man who was once a demonstrator in the Chemistry Laboratory .  Well , he did his PhD from MIT and became the Dean of the Chemistry Department at the same College .  There was one thing common in that august assembly – humility . That characteristic which Islam emphasizes but it is uncommon in the adherents of Islam .  The Grey Heads , the Professors , were easily accessible during the College hours which was not the case with most of the Muslim Professors/Teachers . They  were so vain . Even a  person with moderate education is vain . His behavior is overbearing and outrageous .

You will  remember our sitting with Revered  (Late) Francis Xavier in 1985 at his house located on Gordon College campus . Well , he migrated to the USA where he did qualify for a second PhD in Theology , the first he did was on Christopher Marlowe ( I believe a rarity in Pakistan ) here, a contemporary of Shakespeare ,  bought a church and became a reverend .  At College , Reverend Xavier was very friendly . I borrowed his bicycle daily ( a fortune then ) to enjoy a trip to the Rawalpindi Cantonment and back to join his class . I now realized what a fool I had been . But Mr. Xavier  was never  angry  with   me over  this  .

I remember the day , when I went to see the Principal , the late Dr. V.K. Mall to be admitted to the Masters class although I was two months late . He told me to go and join the class without much ado .  When I mentioned the Admission Form , he told it  would follow . That  day I got it . 

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There are numerous eminent and  learned persons  in the past  , present and will be in the future . Each day when I open the daily newspaper and I read the names of the writers who write columns for the newspaper , I learn that they  had  finished their PhDs from a renowned/ domestic universities or are studying abroad or at home  , I feel very small in front of them regardless of my qualifications .   I am pigmy  compared to them . Remember Steven Hawking , the paralyzed world renowned scientist . He is a genius despite his handicap . Or many people who won the Noble Prize in various disciplines the world over. Also my article ‘An Eye Opener’ in which I emphasized ‘Education ‘ for all Pakistanis , in particular , and all Muslims , in general . In it , I compared the number of Nobel Prizes won by the Jews ( 188 ) and the Muslims ( only three ) . I had drawn a table showing the universities in the western world and in Pakistan . USA leads the list  with 8000 plus as compared to Pakistan (150 ) . This essay was followed by another ‘A Wake up Call’  and a few others on education. As a matter of fact , one of my articles ‘Good Night , Sweet Prince ‘ – a tribute to my deceased son , Mustafa Mahfooz , is still found on his attendant physician’s website .

However ,I don’t need any kind of a certificate to establish my credentials .

With love and best wishes

Yours sincerely

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

July 18, 2013

Dr. Farzana Niazi – a friend of the poor

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18.                       Dr. Farzana Niazi – a friend of the poor
Massi Fatima has T.B. and her husband is a heart patient . Massi  Zainab‘s  infant son has hepapitis B and her husband suffered a stroke . Munira’s father left his ailing wife and his eight children . And now Munira has to eke and herself and the family .All three are sitting outside Dr. Farzana Niazi’s clinic waiting for their turn simultaneously bemoaning their fate . All three of them , beside many more , are given a very patient hearing , free medicines and free flour . Besides, in the month of Ramazan , she distributes flour to the needy .
I have known the Niazis since 1953 being a friend and class mate of one of her brothers, who has passed away  a couple of years ago  after a prolonged illness. Dr. Farzana was the only daughter of Mr. A.K. Niazi, the first income practitioner and a well known figure of the town and his wife. The child was the apple of the parents. They doted on her. She was educated in the Presentation Convent High School with her three brothers and me. We went to school in the same school bus before taking admission in Saint Mary’s Cambridge, Murree Road because boys were not allowed to continue there
After school, she joined the Gordon College, Rawalpindi .I followed there after two years. She went to Lahore to join the Fatima Jinnah Medical College from where she passed out in flying colours, After her medical school, she joined the Rawalpindi General Hospital. After marriage, she went to the U.K, where both the husband, a lovely and a sweet soul, and the wife joined their respective teaching hospitals. Both returned home in the mid seventies to serve the country. They had two sons and one daughter.
But she often in and out of jobs because she did not learn to play the game foul. She tried to practice but her practice never picked up for the same reasons . She was also picked up to be present when late Mr. Bhutto announced his Health Policy and she tore into the policy apart .
In late eighties , tragedy struck the family. Not keeping good health herself she suffered an additional burden with looking after her aged parents ,a sick brother ,But that tragedy shook her completely when her second son met with a scooter accident while going to his tutor. He was a smart , intelligent and a
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very likeable young . He was my children’s favourite . He suffered a concussion on the head and has not recovered . Seeing that his chances of recovery were bleak , the mother took him home .But still the physio-therapist , whom the brave  mother engaged for her son , comes home daily and has a full one hour’s session with him under her close supervision .
But she took her loss bravely . Instead of crying , she took to praying for her son’s recovery . Not that , she never did pray before that sad event . But that she began praying all the more . Almost simultaneously , she listened to an inner voice advising her to help the poor and the downtrodden . Since her house was adjacent to a katchi abadi , ( a poor locality) she opened a free dispensary in her house in Millat Colony , behind Shabistan Cinema . She daily examines 35 woman patients from that katchi abadi from 9.00 till 11.00 AM. These women are given their numbers . Each woman who comes to her miserable to her carries a tale of untold misery and deprivation . To listen to Dr. Niazi , one never cease to wonder that the only crime of these women and their men folk was that they were born poor . This happening in the Islamic republic of Pakistan . The institution of Zakat and Bait-ul-mal have been in established in the eighties . But no government is prepared to institute remedial measures to alleviate their poverty or sympathize with their sufferings .
Dr. Niazi seeks no help from the Government . The major donor is Mr. Shakir , who donates a part of the monthly supply of drugs and medicines . Sometimes other people also chip for example , Mr. Ardershir Cowasjee who once donated Rs 10000/, through Ms Amina Jilani , and Mr . Tariq Ikram who donated Rs 5000 /..
The Mr. Bhutto dreamt of a society for Pakistan like that of the Scandinavian countries. Islam provides all that and much more . But we lack the will to implement . The result is that the haves with their unearned and easy wealth ( reference the World Bank ‘s and other similar reports that Pakistan tops the list of the most corrupt in the world ) are lolling in luxury while the have nots have no bread to eat . In these circumstances the least we could is help good Samaritans like Dr. Farzana Niazi in her mission.