In India, it is believed that Lord Shiva (topics – pictures) used to sustain his household by collecting scalpings through begging from rishis and sadhus. However, times have changed significantly. Even full-time beggars (panhandlers) now struggle to have two meals a day. In the recent past, every beggar who appeared at the door on Saturdays and Mondays would receive a portion of rice or juvar. Additionally, individuals who worshipped at the temple on Thursdays as devotees of the guru would receive both goodies and money.
The beggar community is experiencing difficulties in making a living due to the increasing selfishness and small-mindedness of mankind. The government’s policies have also been unhelpful to them. The beggars argue that begging, like prostitution, is the oldest profession on earth and is universal, varying by geography and time. They point out that even countries as wealthy as America have beggars in some form. There are different types of beggars, including professional beggars, who accounted for 13% of the total according to a 1979 analysis conducted by the Amusing Welfare Directorate.
However, the chic is not composed of academics or technocrats. Instead, they are highly skilled actors with unique appearances and impressive performances. In terms of their looks, they have disheveled hair, bushy beards, thick bushy eyebrows, darkened lips, and lean bodies with deep and hoarse voices. They express themselves in a way that aligns with their appearance – they can shed tears from one eye while looking at you with the other, they may lean on one leg depending on the angle of observation or switch to silence and stammering speech.
They have aspirations for individuals of any gender, at any time and in any location. They particularly favor older individuals, women (who have more to conceal than reveal), and teenagers who aspire to achieve success through daring ventures. The financial needs of these professionals align with the inflationary trend in the country. As a result, they easily become street vendors or taxi drivers. Conversely, there are non-professional beggars who find themselves in their current situation due to circumstances beyond their control. These individuals suffer from extreme poverty caused by family conflicts, being abandoned by their families, rejected by friends, and burdened by persistent illiteracy. Society heartlessly abandons them and compels them to resort to begging on the streets for a morsel of food or money to purchase one.
Impoverished individuals, who are beyond recovery, become easy targets for cunning gangs offering minimal resources such as crumbs and basic housing. These gangs engage in the trading and rape of young girls, and they subject newborns to harsh treatment, such as placing iron caps on their heads to ensure mental disabilities and physical deformities. These unfortunate and vile couples are then placed at sacred shrines, accompanied by the false belief that they are devotees sent by God. They are not to be questioned or despised, but instead revered and given rewards.
The old and foolish portion of the marginalized individuals are confused and in danger of concrete deviation or death. Their only means of escape is to be banished to a dead-end location, where they must comply with dictated instructions: gather at traffic signals, street corners, mosques, petrol pumps, auto stands, bakeries, and other market areas, creating pathetic scenes to elicit sympathy and money. The earnings from this disgraceful display by these twisted individuals are pooled and shared among the typically neglected exploiters in proportion to the size and location of their groups. Child Beggars: UNBATHED, uncombed, with nails covered in filth – these beggar children often appear without shoes, dressed in dirty, disheveled, foul-smelling clothing. It is distressing to see young children begging on the busy roads of Karachi without extended hands; sometimes selling small items such as towels, dusters, combs, etc. These children are a blight on our society. In any proud community, they would have been in schools preparing for a successful adult life.
Children with ‘small heads’ are mostly those who are abandoned at the shrine of Dollah Shah in Gujarat by people whose desires have been fulfilled. These children are then made to wear iron helmets, which hinders their natural physical and mental growth, and are later exploited for begging. In my opinion, both the authorities and the community should make every effort to end this deplorable tradition. After all, these children are our own.
Characteristics of Beggars:
- KIDNAPPED: This category mainly comprises of young children who have been abducted by beggar gangs. They are rendered disabled through the use of drug injections and by mutilating their body parts in order to gain people’s attention. The Shahmira gang is an example of this type of organized begging. The United Arab Emirates recently rescued two Pakistani boys aged between four and six from a camel farm where they were being used for camel racing. Kidnappers and smugglers who send children to Arab countries still operate in Pakistan, but the government has been unable to eliminate this illegal trade.
- ADDICTS: The youth, addicted to drugs, beg for a few hours each day to collect funds to purchase narcotics. They return to their dens to smoke heavily drugged cigarettes. Sometimes, they even stage accidents to collect large sums of money to support their drug habits.
- HEREDITARY BEGGARS: They wander around in groups of four to five with a begging bowl, often accompanied by children who are being taught the art of begging. They live in cottages outside the city where they enjoy various luxuries.
They acquire tape-recorders, battery-run television sets, and VCRs to watch Indian and Pakistani films. They go out early in the morning to beg at fixed places and return in the evening. Beggars at tombs are usually adults and wear long rosaries around their necks. They wear a green garment called ‘chough’ and carry bowls in their hands. Typically, they target households when the men are not present, preying on trusting women. They leave their residence to deceive them at the tomb they had emerged from.
At times, women are asked to give up to Rs100. On Thursdays, specific beggars ask for alms, using the phrase “Jumarat Bhari Murad,” which means that giving on Thursday will grant your wish. There are also beggars who disguise themselves as saboteurs, pretending to be homeless in order to gather information and be paid for it. They dress in dirty and torn clothes, sometimes pretending to be mentally ill or holy. According to a report, the police arrested an individual involved in a criminal group that uses beggars to carry out their activities. The group is responsible for causing harm to innocent teenagers. During one incident, a 10-year-old boy named Ghulam Shabbir was begging while being watched by a disguised individual named Shahmira, who was pretending to be handicapped. A concerned citizen noticed the suspicious activity and reported it to Rescue-15. However, before the police could arrive, the individual lifted the boy and disappeared.
The man and the bedridden boy were sought by the police and bounded animal rights activist, who raided a set up located just beyond the railway line. Shahmira was arrested by the police and the bedridden boy, Ghulam Shabbir, was recovered, along with another dark beggar from the camp. It was reported that 10-12 additional affirmed beggars had left for ‘business’. Shabbir revealed that he belonged to the Seetanwala village 2/2 near Kamalia and had eight siblings who were working at kilns. Their alleged parents received Rs 1,000 to 1,500 for each child.
Shahmira gave Rs1,500 to their account if they gave him receipts totaling Rs500 each day. After examining Shabbir, a medical professional stated that the boy’s legs and hands were bent at the correct angles due to injections in his knees and other body parts. The doctor identified visible injection marks on the body. Shahmira explained that he arrived in Sahiwal with his group to beg the day before he was arrested. Previously, he used to beg with his group in Gujranwala and other districts.
The beggar who was rescued from the den claimed that he was left behind and made to work for Shahmira in order to support himself. Begging in Pakistan is perpetuated by both organized gangs and individuals. These gangs illegally transport young children to wealthier countries by causing them physical harm and impairing their abilities for begging. In Sahiwal, beggars of various kinds can be found at locations such as the railway station, bus and wagon stops, clinics, and the DHQ Hospital. The following types of beggars are prevalent in Sahiwal and other cities.
In summary, by establishing a connection between an address and an account, beggars would have been provided with both housing and the opportunity to pursue a respectable livelihood, thereby facilitating their integration into society. However, it is equally crucial for these individuals to receive legal consequences through court trials and imprisonment in order to acquire training for legitimate employment. Conversely, our typical response tends to be giving them money and self-congratulating on our perceived act of kindness, naively assuming it will guarantee us a place in heaven.
In any society, there is no resolution for beggars. It is universally accepted that everyone should work and be trained for a job that can provide them with a respectable and comfortable livelihood, through efficient charity. The issue of child labor in brick kilns, workshops, and the carpet industry is often discussed, but we have not taken any action to address child poverty, which is prevalent in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.
