Hats off for Abdul Sattar Edhi,
who declined the offer of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to donate Rs 10m
for taking care of Geeta, a girl who is now back to her home country after 12
years. “What the Edhi family has done is too priceless to be measured but I am
happy to announce a contribution of Rs10 million for their foundation,” Modi
tweeted.
I have been critical of Edhi sahib as I couldn’t understand that his men used to
collect the bodies of terror victims but never stepped forward to save them from
falling at the hands of perpetrators. They could have identified the criminals
before executing the heinous acts. This created suspicions about the nature of
his philanthropy. Sorry, everything is possible in a country where everything is
shrouded in mystery. But the news that Edhi sahib has declined Modi’s offer
impressed me a lot. This is an act which one can expect from a truly tall
Pakistani. Edhi has said nothing except thanking Modi for his gesture. But his
act has given a clear message across the border that what Modi, his government,
BJP and Shiv Sena are doing against the Muslim minority and visitors from
Pakistan is not at all acceptable.
Edhi sahib is not a political figure, nor did he give any political statement.
The Indian Prime Minister must take it as a protest and revisit his policies.
Modi must understand that he is turning India into an extremist state. Instead
the Pakistani state is busy in fighting extremists and terrorists. It is
advisable that Pakistan and India as well as other regional countries must join
hands together and fight out terrorism once and for all. India, as a bigger
country, will have to stop sponsoring terror and resolve outstanding disputes
for a better future of this continent.