Pak beggars in S. Arabia: a matter of concern
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Last year, on the complaint of the Saudi authorities, some beggars who went to the land of Hijaz under the guise of Hajj and Umrah were rounded up.
If this operation had been completed effectively, the nation would not have faced shame again today. According to the media report, the Saudi government once again issued a warning to Pakistan's Ministry of Religious Affairs to prevent beggars from going there. According to the letter, if Pakistan does not stop beggars from going to Saudi Arabia, it may affect Umrah pilgrims and pilgrims. Last year It was revealed that a large number of Pakistani beggars in the form of pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia and Iraq to beg there. Later, the beggars under FIA revealed that the collected money is transferred to the respective travel agents when they return to Pakistan. And it is divided between them, the visa and ticket money to go to these countries is paid by the travel agent. The travel agents look for beggars in their city who have been begging for at least ten to twelve years.
In Pakistan, there is no shortage of disabled people or people who disguise themselves, or the mafia leave them in public places to beg, but the majority of the police are aware of them. In the light of this situation, it is necessary that the federal and provincial governments should carry out a complete operation under strict supervision to rid the society of this scourge which has increasingly reached abroad. Yes, it would be better to revise the procedures for issuing data, national registration and passport. As a matter of fact , begging is an issue at home as well as abroad and it needs to be tackled on war footing. In Pakistan, the begging has turned into a mafia and an organized and strong network is working behind these beggers. Under a regular network of professional beggars, different groups of beggars are assigned to different areas of the city and each group collects alms from people while remaining in their area for a fixed period.
These people have adopted many tactics of begging. These people beg as lame and blind. Some appear to be unable to walk, lying in carriages or begging with the help of crutches. Some women hold pencils in their hands and appear to be selling pencils, but actually they are begging and their demand is not to buy pencils but to help. Some people are seen doing this work by holding a maswak in their hands. The members of this network make their people stand in different places and ask for alms. Along with this, they are also being monitored, and these places are rented and each beggar has a specific place. No other beggar can stand in his place and the hours of begging are also fixed. The beggar who earns the most in this mafia group is posted in an equally posh area. If we talk about their earnings, professional beggars sitting on important places or highways earn thousands per day. Due to non-implementation of laws for anti-begging, a large number of beggers are seen on roads, intersections and alleys. Now there are many organized groups of them who leave different types of disabled persons to beg at different places and make them a source of income. There have been incidents of the activities of these professional groups spreading abroad, which undermines our national dignity. The Punjab Cabinet's Standing Committee on Legislative has taken a commendable step by approving important amendments.
According to the new amendment to the law, begging is a non-bailable offense and the organizer of the business is liable to a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 10 years in prison and the employer of 5 people for the purpose of begging to a minimum of shall be punished with three and maximum five years of imprisonment and a fine of three to five lakh rupees. The law previously referred to a child beggar who was below 14 years of age. According to the new amendment, strict action will now be taken against the organizers of systematic begging and the masterminds of this racket are a stain on society. In order to prevent them, it is inevitable to make strict laws in other provinces and federal level and to trace professional groups and give them severe punishments. We would also like to draw attention to the fact that the beggars include a large number of drug addicts who should be caught and treated to make them useful citizens of the society. Such training institutions should be established for such persons who beg due to theft of work where they can learn skills and earn decent livelihood.There are no authentic statistics about the number of these beggars, but according to a conservative estimate, the number of beggars in Pakistan is in lakhs. Professional beggars use various tactics to show off their disability, neediness or illness. But a negative aspect of this whole process is that the real entitled and white-collard section of the society is ignored. The people of Pakistan are among the countries in the world that actively participate in charity. Big anchors are established, but despite doing all this, the number of poverty and destitution and beggars is increasing day by day instead of decreasing. According to socialists, begging is a social behavior in which the weak and downtrodden section of the society needs the help of others to meet their basic needs. That is, begging is the name of an activity born out of poverty and deprivation, in which money or charity is obtained by begging others. Poverty, unemployment, disease, mental and physical disabilities, natural disasters and wars are commonly found to be causes of begging.
According to a survey, more than 70 million people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line, but the main reason for this poverty is the worst capitalist system of the third world, which does not get proper wages for labor. There is no part of the country where the beggers do not have access. You will find them at every intersection, every road, every eating place and every market. It is also a fact that due to rising inflation, beggars have set new begging rates by themselves. There is an Anti-Beggar Act in the country, it is also in force, but those who are responsible for implementing this law seem to have failed miserably in its implementation that groups of beggars are appearing everywhere.