Outstanding Pakistanis

Today’s outstanding Pakistani is Mr Muhammad Ramzan Chippa, chairman of the Chippa Welfare Association. Ramzan Bhai has supplemented the work started by Mr Abdus Sattar Edhi.

Our country has been in a mess since its creation. The poor have become poorer due to inflation, and are deprived of even their very basic needs, while the rich grow richer due to corruption. The poor often have no jobs, no clean drinking water, no reasonable roofs over their heads; they sometimes resort to drugs due to their miserable existence. In rural areas, the situation is often worse, with women being used as cheap labour. However, despite everything, Pakistanis are still known as being the biggest philanthropists in the world.

Due to his dedicated efforts, sincerity, honesty and perseverance, Chippa has become a household name within a relatively short span of time. Partial to the colour green, which is usually associated with the Islamic culture, he always wears green clothes. He is above considering cast, creed, colour and religion and is ready and willing to serve anyone in need. He helps poor Muslims during Eid festivals, poor Christians during Easter and Christmas and poor Hindus during Holi and Diwali. He strongly believes in the divine edict that all human beings are creatures of the Almighty.

Ramzan Chippa started his social welfare work in 1987. At that time, terrorism was at its peak and bomb explosions were taking huge tolls on human life. Many people were also badly injured or made invalids for life. Chippa, a teenager at the time, got down to work. He collected money, took the wounded to hospitals and medical centres and collected and helped bury the dead. He also set up a blood bank and collected medicines.

People soon realized that he was honest and doing important humanitarian work and they started donating money to help him. He managed to buy pickups, ambulances and motor rickshaws and set up medical centres and dispensaries. Very soon, a network was set up in all provinces. Ambulances became available at a single phone call to take the sick, wounded and deceased to relevant centres. Chippa had found a divine calling.

Nowadays, the Chippa ambulance service is one of the most efficient. In addition to this, they also provide meals twice a day to almost 30,000 people and supply essentials of food to thousands of needy families. Their morgue can contain 150 bodies at any one time and has bathing and funeral facilities as well. Just like at Edhi centres, Chippa centres have baskets by their doors wherein the very poor can deposit babies instead of committing infanticide. There are homes for orphans, the handicapped, the elderly, etc. and all facilities are provided to make their lives comfortable and homely.

May Almighty Allah shower His infinite blessings on Muhammed Ramzan Chippa to enable him to keep up his humanitarian work in serving the ailing and needy poor of Pakistan – Ameen.

Postscript: Like every year, the president conferred civil awards on many deserving (and some undeserving cronies) on Pakistan Day this year. A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister had already decorated the highest taxpayers.

Since I am a great friend of Memons because of their soft nature, kindness, philanthropic nature and patriotism, I was invited to be chief guest at a function organized by my dear friend, Haji Muhammed Rafiq Pardesi and others to honour the award winners.

During my tenure as inspector of weights and measures, Karachi administration from 1958 to August 1961, I visited almost all the districts of Karachi, especially SITE. Thus I came to know many Memon industrialists and soon learnt that they were benefactors of Pakistan and had helped Quaid-e-Azam with hard cash and later in setting up industries in newly independent Pakistan, especially excellent textile mills.

As part of my duties as chairman KRL, my colleagues and I often travelled to Dubai to meet European suppliers. During one of these trips I met Haji Abdul Razzaq Surti, president of the World Memon Association. At one stage he lent $185 million to the Pakistan Government (Mr Agha Hassan Abedi of BCCI also lent hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan many times over).

When Haji Razzaq and Agha Hassan Abedi became victims of foreign agencies, our leaders not only showed no gratefulness or offered any help to them, but they treated them most callously. Neither of them ever received any civil awards or recognition for their services and help. The Memon community has been a blessing for Pakistan and Pakistanis. May Allah shower His infinite blessings on all of them – Ameen

Concluded

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