Serving humanity

Despite having vast natural and human resources, Pakistan is still considered backward and underdeveloped. The main reasons for this are incompetent leaders, massive corruption, lack of foresight and planning and honest implementation.

Whatever relief is granted to the poor (more than 50 percent of our population) comes from philanthropists and social welfare organisations. To name but a few, we have the Red Cross, Lions Club and Rotary Club as foreign welfare agencies – especially active and helpful in eradication of polio activities and during natural disasters.

Locally, we have, among other welfare organisations, the Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust, Saylani Welfare Trust, Al-Khidmat, SIUT, Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Indus Hospital, Alamgir Welfare Trust, Al-Shifa Foundation, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat Foundation, SOS, LRBT etc. All of these are doing excellent work. I am personally familiar with many of them and am also involved in the running of a mental health centre, the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, in Karachi. Many patients with psychological problems are treated here free-of-cost.

In this article, we will focus on the Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust, Karachi. The organisation is run by a good and long-standing friend, Dr Haji Hanif Tayyab, former minister for petroleum and natural resources and manpower and overseas Pakistanis. This trust is not only established in all the provinces of the country, but also has several branches abroad. In the past, the organisation has provided emergency aid to Bangladesh, Burma, Syria and Palestine, among other places.

At an event organised by Dr Tayyab in London, Lord Nazir highly praised the trust’s humanitarian work. The trustees of Al-Mustafa are all engineers, doctors, industrialists, traders and businessmen. Many of my friends from Karachi are also members of this trust. Their goal is to transparently and honestly serve humanity. Dr Tayyab has also been on the board of governors and syndicates of many public and private universities. For his humanitarian work he was awarded a DLit by the University of Karachi.

The Al-Mustafa Trust provides medical and financial help to thousands of needy people, orphans as well as students. Almost all prominent personalities of Pakistan have, at one point or another, visited any one or more of the various facilities of the trust, and has lauded their services. Mr Abdul Razaq, chairman of the trust’s UK chapter, and Lord Nazir are looking after the destitute Burmese citizens left in Bangladesh.

Many Western countries have caused havoc in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan. Hundreds and thousands of innocent people have been killed and many more have been left in dire need of support and care. The Al-Mustafa Trust, together with the Saylani Trust, and other welfare organisations, has provided invaluable financial and material support to the suffering masses. They also run centres for children, dialysis and thalassaemia, and have given medical treatment and carried out free operations of many. They hold regular medical camps in lower-income localities of major cities, as well as in jails.

After the severe earthquake of 2005, the trust started running support programmes on a war-footing for affected families. Schools were set up in various cities, many of them providing boarding facilities. Both Sardar Yasin Malik and Mr Mehtab Chawla visited some of these facilities, provided financial assistance and profusely praised the humanitarian work being done by the welfare organisation. Every year, the trust provides food, clothing, rations and medical facilities to thousands of people.

Dr Tayyab was the first president of the Anjuman Talaba-e-Islam and has the advantage of knowing many people from different localities. He manages to motivate them to volunteer for social work. These volunteers are very passionate about their work, knowing full well that it is for a noble cause and is in line with the divine edicts of helping the needy and poor.

Our public representatives should also take time out to visit the Al-Mustafa Trust (and other welfare organisation) and get themselves acquainted with the facilities and services being offered there. Dr Hanif Tayyab, with his vast administrative experience of holding various ministerial portfolios, has the ideal background to run such a large organisation efficiently. The Al-Mustafa Trust deserves all possible support and encouragement it can get, both publicly and privately.

Note: I am extremely grateful to all those Pakistanis who sent me heart-warming messages on Youm-e-Takbeer. If one reads Nawaz Sharif’s statements, one gets the impression that he did everything with his own hands. In any celebration, there is never a word for the scientists, engineers and teams involved. If it hadn’t been for them, there would have not been any decision to take regarding whether or not to go ahead with a nuclear test. What an ungrateful lot!

Email: dr.a.quadeer.khan@gmail.com