‘Invisible people of Pakistan’ deserve attention, says Rabbani

LONDON: “Less privileged people are the real people of Pakistan and they deserve to be given due care by the society – the sooner, the better.” This was stated by Mian Raza Rabbani, Chairman, Senate of Pakistan, at the launch of his book ‘Invisible People’ by South Asia Forum in London.

Mian Raza Rabbani said, “The privileged class doesn’t care about the issues and problems of the downtrodden, they don’t matter. I wrote Invisible People to highlight the class that’s invisible and needs to be brought to the front. These are the real people, they should be the biggest stakeholders of Pakistan. They should be part of national decision making.”

During the launch of ‘Invisible People’, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani also highlighted polio immunisation as a positive example of how Pakistan can improve the lives of the most marginalised. Senator Rabbani noted the great progress Pakistan has made to ensure that every last child, regardless of their geography or circumstance, has access to the polio vaccine. He expressed pride that Pakistan is now closer than ever to eradicating polio, and urged continued momentum to ensure the disease is wiped out forever.  

Mian Raza Rabbani‘s speech was followed by a panel discussion about the book. The panelists included Wajid Shamsul Hasan, former Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK; research scholar, Dr. Hannah Charlotte Kershaw; prominent British author of Pakistani-descent, Ms. Rosie Dastgir and Syed Jawaid Iqbal, Chairman, SouthAsia Forum.

Earlier, while opening the discussion, Syed Jawaid Iqbal, who also moderated the event, said, “In the writing of ‘Invisible People’ Raza emerges as a master storyteller. The only difference is that the people he is writing about may be a product of his imagination but they are real people who form the vast majority of Pakistan and whose stories must be told. Like most of the parliamentarians Raza could also have remained isolated and avoided basic details of life of our people in Pakistan, but he did not.” Ms. Rosie Dastgir said, it was a momentous occasion that ‘Invisible People’ was being launched in London as it gave voice to the common people of Pakistan and reflected their travails in a language that could be easily understood.

Dr. Hannah Charlotte Kershaw said that here was someone at last who wrote so lucidly about the under-privileged class in Pakistan and highlighted the stories of their daily lives in such a coherent manner.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan said he was so happy that Senator Rabbani had chosen to represent a class in his book that is generally invisible and is used and abused constantly by the upper classes.