members of the society to adopt at least one child to make him or her useful citizens.
Reham Khan said there was no need for conducting surveys to know the exact number of the street children as it was time to protect them from being abused. “We must take the initiative from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for this purpose,” she stressed.
Mehr Taj Roghani appreciated the KP government for declaring street children as state children, saying it was the responsibility of the state to provide facilities to its citizens.
She said a survey was being conducted in Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad to collect data about the number of street children. She said millions of children were out of school and many scavenged for food.
On the occasion, a ‘state child’ Subhanullah gave a speech in English. He said: “Today I want to talk about myself and about many others like me. I was born in an underprivileged family. I have six elder sisters and three younger brothers. I am the eldest male child in my family.”
“I started working at the age of five as my father was bedridden due to illness. I worked at the workshop of a car mechanic to continue my education and contribute to the household expenses to some extent,” he recalled.
“At school I saw children who led a carefree life. They had beautiful bags and their parent would pick and drop them in their cars. My classmates would tell me about cartoons they watched after school and the toys they bought,” he continued.
“My class fellows rested after school as they didn’t have to work. They went to parks with their parents. I have no story to share as I go to a shop to work after school,” he added.
Subhanullah said he would humbly ask a few questions. “Why can’t I be like others? Why can’t I have books, the bags and the toys the other children have? Why do I have to work after school? I ask the people around the world to see me and live like my just for one day. I thank the people who have helped me but there are so many of us. I request the society to stop ignoring us,” he pleaded.