Good idea — wrong method

Islamabad: There are some people who want to do good things -- according to their own perception of ‘good’ -- and the person who has put these bins around town so that verses of the holy Quran can be disposed of properly is one of them. He had the right idea but has gone about it in the wrong way and this manner of disposal of the holy scripts can definitely cause problems for innocent people, especially children. Those who want to do what they feel is right should think of all the pros and cons before taking action on their ideas so that negative results do not override their good intentions. .

As can be seen from the picture, the container, which is marked with the number 7so there must be others around the city - is full to the brim, in fact it is overflowing and to any uneducated person who cannot read, it will look like a garbage disposal bin. Who can blame him/her if he/she decides to open a bag to look for recyclable items or take a bag or two to sell as waste material to a man -- known in local parlance as the ‘kabari wala’ -- who pays for items such as paper that can be recycled. Since blasphemy is such a touchy subject he/she could easily be blamed for committing blasphemy and be a victim of mob justice, like so many people have been in the recent past.

The container - if there has to be one kept for such a purpose - should have a small opening at the top, preferably with a spring action flap that closes automatically after a bag is dropped in it. There should be a door with a lock at the lower level so that the bags can be removed safely and carefully whenever the container is full. Left as it is, it is not safe and a big temptation for someone who is hungry and needs a few rupees to buy a morsel of food and survive. Unless of course there is someone keeping an eye on the container 24 hours of the day to warn innocent garbage collectors, which is not probable or practical.