Make no mistake – Faisal Edhi is a chip off the old block.  The newly appointed acting president of the Edhi foundation is a compact, self-contained individual, who like his father, manages to pack quite a punch without overstating his case – or cause.  The other similarities with his illustrious pater are his self-deprecating sense of humour (“I managed to do my inter – after failing consistently – long live supplements!” he says of his academic career), and his determination to forge ahead despite the odds… “President, Edhi Foundation or no president, I am going to make sure my father allows me to get a Bachelor’s degree – even if it takes a decade in the doing given my past performance.”  And then there’s the straight talking – Faisal Edhi shoots straight from the hip.

            We’re sitting in his tiny cubicle/office at the Edhi centre on Chundrigar Road and he’s told a man is waiting to see him and refuses to talk to anyone else.  Mid-interview, without either a by-your-leave or an apology to me, Faisal beckons him to enter and asks him his business.  The man relates a tragic tale – of a 34-year-old resident of Hazara who is currently languishing in a hospital, virtually unattended, in Rawalpindi.

            The man, a father of three, is critically ill, but medical intervention could perhaps save his life.  There are, however, no resources to get the required treatment.  Endless appeals to endless quarters have yielded a blank, so the family has despatched the man who stands before us to what they perceive is their last recourse: Edhi.

            I am taken aback by the apparent insensitivity of Faisal Edhi’s response.  “You’re asking for a miracle – there are people who are dying in Civil Hospital because they can’t afford a 15-rupee drip.  The Edhi Foundation can barely manage to finance its own endeavours – we cant help,” he unequivocally tells the man.

            I am even more surprised by the stoicism with which the man accepts the rejection – or perhaps it is the fatalism of those doomed by the accident of their birth on the fringe.  Faisal Edhi seems to sense my unexpressed outrage.  He turns to me and says, “I will not make promises I cannot keep, offer succour when there is none to give.”  His matter-of-fact attitude is reminiscent of his father’s.  Maybe its genetic – or perhaps being surrounded by so much wretchedness has helped them, like doctors, to develop a defensive armour to shield them from being brought down by the bleak despair of the world they have chosen to inhabit.

            And Faisal Edhi has certainly chosen this way of life.  The question is, can this 25-year-old, the youngest of Sattar and Bilquis Edhi’s brood of two boys and two girls, do justice to his father’s “mission?”  His father obviously thinks so – he has all but abdicated in his favour.  But the task at hand is daunting, not least because the legacy of Abdul Sattar Edhi is so monumental, can any mortal live up to it?

            Consider the operation at hand – a 24-hour emergency service in the 250 Edhi centres across the country, shelters for the destitute, orphans and the handicapped, shroud and burial services for unclaimed corpses, the establishment of mass graveyards, hospitals ad dispensaries equipped to handle out-patient services for up to one million people annually, a vast ground and air ambulance service, rehabilitation centres for drug addicts, blood banks, the provision of wheelchairs and crutches for the disabled, family planning, counselling and maternity services, relief efforts for victims of natural calamities both local and international, refugee assistance, prisoners aid, retrieval of drowning victims by trained Edhi divers, airdropping of provisions to people trapped in war zones or at sea, animal shelters, etc., etc. – the list is endless.

       Consider also the Foundation’s vast outreach.  Apart from its diverse operations at home, the Edhi network has gone where few relief organisations have ventured before: Lebanon, Bosnia, Croatia, Romania, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine – in war zones and in the aftermath of conflicts to provide humanitarian aid – and to Bangladesh, Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Somalia, Surat and Gujrat in India, and Japan, following natural disasters whatever their description.  The Foundation’s relief efforts for refugees around the globe continue – irrespective of caste, creed or nationality.

            In fact, the Edhi Foundation is currently involved in so many diverse fields, it is virtually impossible to either keep track, or list its multiple pursuits.

            Small wonder then that innumerable organisations spanning the globe have seen fit to honour the man who has made mountains move.  Abdul Sattar Edhi is the recipient of numerous awards – local and international.  (See Box)  But the Nobel Peace Prize remains elusive.

            Politics at work again?  Certainly it comes into play from time to time.  Apart from ongoing threats at home from political groups with vested iterests, the Edhis have also had to contend with pressure of a different nature abroad.  When the Foundation wanted to establish a base in India, for example, it ran into trouble and had to withdraw.  And despite a full-fledged Edhi office operating out of New York, Faisal Edhi, who has visited the United States earlier, has been consistently refused a visa every time he has applied in the past six years.  “Most telling,” however, he says, “is the fact that my father’s services have been recognised by the entire world – but the Nobel Academy studiously ignores him.  Clearly his credentials are not right – he’s Third World, he’s Muslim, and paradoxically, because he speaks the language of the masses, he’s sometimes even seen as a communist.”

            But winning awards is the least of the challenges facing Faisal Edhi.  And only time will tell if he can carry the weight of the world, as his father has done for 50 years, on his rather dimunitive shoulders.  At this point in time, however, it’s all systems go.

            In Faisal’s own words…

 

 

 “Threats are a way of life for us”

 

– Faisal Edhi

 

 

            Q:   Considering they’re active and able-bodied, why have your parents decided to take premature retirement and confer the mantle of presidentship upon you and your sister Kubra?

            A:  They haven’t retired.  Right now my parents are in the States on a fund-generating drive.  My father manages to pull in around 20 crore rupees annually from the States – but really, only he can work this magic, and the money doesn’t pour in overnight, it takes time.  I have been actively involved with the Trust for the past six, seven years,  and already have the permanent designation of assistant president, Edhi Foundation, which puts me in charge of all the Foundation’s welfare operations.  All that has happened really is that currently, in my father’s absence, I have been made temporary president of the operations and similarly, my sister is standing in for my mother as head of the women’s welfare network.  When my parents return, it will be back to business as usual.

            Q:  Nonetheless your father has sent a fairly succinct signal about the shape of things to come – clearly your parents are taking a backseat and have indicated the heirs to their foundation.  Why have they done so?

            A:  I’m not really sure.  They can best answer this question themselves.

            Q:  Do you think the decision to distance themselves owes in any part to the death threats Edhi Sahib has consistently maintained have been issued against him?

            A:  No, those threats have always been there and they continue to the present.  Last night I received a threat – I was warned if I did not comply with the demand of bhatta, I would be burnt and my child would be killed.  So this is a way of life for us; we have learned to live with it and we do not allow such things to stymie our work.

            Q:  Who are the perpetrators of these threats?

            A:  Various groups who feel that our operations threaten their control over areas they perceive as their territories.  The threats have come from certain fundamentalist parties and from student wings of other political parties.  The most recent one was issued by the student faction of a nationalist party.  Essentially they demand bhatta from us – but I must tell you, we do not comply.  We have never paid extortion and we don’t intend to in the future.

            Q:  One of the biggest criticisms levelled against the Edhi Foundation has been its lack of professional financial management and the obdurate refusal by Edhi Sahib to delegate authority to others more equipped to streamline the organisation.  Is this likely to change?

            A:  In the last couple of years we have made a concerted effort to make the Foundation a more professional concern.  This has involved sorting out endless files and discarding mountains of debris.  We are planning to be fully computerised in the next two years.  But as far as delegating responsibility goes, this is a huge problem.  When my father trusts someone he does so blindy – and it has always been to his detriment.  You cannot conceive how many times he has been duped by those closest to him.  The turnover of staff has been rapid precisely for this reason – that their breach of trust has been discovered.  The foundation has suffered huge losses as a result.  So I find it extremely difficult to delegate responsibility, especially in financial matters.  In fact, in the past year I’ve had to terminate the services of 130 staff members in Karachi alone on account of financial misdemeanours and public complaints.  It’s hard to trust people when the lives of the dispossessed lie in the balance – because any losses incurred by the Foundation are really the losses of the wretched for whom the money is meant.

            We do, however, have a full team of auditors and from the inception they have audited all the Foundation’s accounts.

            Q:  Does the bulk of your funding come from abroad?

            A:  A substantial amount of our funding comes from abroad, but the bulk is generated locally.  The poverty at home automatically rules out any money coming in from the majority of the population who belong to the impoverished strata.  The rich, as a rule, have not been our benefactors.  So this leaves the very small middle class who, though bound by financial constraints, give unstintedly.

            Q:  Has the Foundation initiated any income-generating schemes so as to aim for at least some measure of self-sustenance in the future?

            A:  Yes, we have invested in various government saving schemes.

            Q:  Of successive governments, which would you say has been most cooperative or otherwise?

            A:  Actually none have really distinguished themselves one way or another.  But we try and maintain our distance from both, the government and political parties.

            Q:  What was the real story about the 100 plus children who fled the Edhi Apna Ghar?  There were reports of cruelty towards the children by members of the staff…

            A:  Thereby hangs a tale.  This was another instance of betrayal by one of my father’s close lieutenants.  We believe that the administrator of the enterprise was siphoning funds and decided to transfer him to another post which did not involve any financial transactions.  He refused to leave without a fight, and in connivance with other members of the administrative staff organised this great escape.  However, as it turned out, most of the children returned to the centre of their own volition and those that did not, went to their respective families.

            As far as reports of cruelty go, by and large, these are not true – exceptions are of course another matter.  But there are constant checks.  My father, for example, personally spends a great deal of time with the children and they are at liberty to speak to him of any matter, including complaints against the staff members.

            Q:  Why would you transfer and not immediately terminate the services of individuals found culpable of financial misdemeanours?

            A:  It’s easier said than done.  Often these individuals are linked with the Foundation in intrinsic ways that makes it difficult to sack them.  Then there is the replacement factor – it’s next to impossible to find efficient, honest staff.  But when we do transfer those found wanting, their new posts are largely ceremonial and they are not given positions of great responsibility again.

            Q:  It’s a sad reflection of the times given that you have such a vast network of Edhi workers.  How many of these are voluntary?

            A:  I would say they’re all voluntary employees – even if they receive a salary.  Some, of course, work gratis.

            Q:  How many abandoned infants do you receive monthly and what is the gender ratio?

            A:  We get about 15 to 20 cradle babies each month, 90 per cent or more of whom are girls.

            Q:  And are you stringent about allowing only Muslim couples to adopt these children?

            A:  Yes, because that is the law of the land.  Unless, of course, we find a note with the infant stating that he/she is of Christian or Hindu parentage.  In that case we seek families of these faiths for the children.

            Q:  How many countries does the Edhi Foundation currently have a presence in?

            A:  We have representatives in 30 countries and offices in seven of them.

            Q:  What is the scope of the duties performed by the Edhi functionaries/offices abroad?

            A:  Primarily generating funds for the organisation.  In addition, however, we do offer members of the community some services, eg religious instruction.

            Q:  When you say members of the community do you mean the expatriate community or the Muslim community?

            A:  Essentially the Pakistani diaspora.

            Q:  Since when did the Edhi Foundation involve itself with ‘religious instruction’ – given your father’s consistently expressed resolve to keep the Edhi Trust’s welfare activities separate from religion, politics, ethnic considerations, etc?

            A:  Actually we do this at the request of the expatriates who are some of our major donors.  They are concerned their children are losing their religious identity.  The instruction provided is at the most basic level and is conducted through books we purchase locally.  We try to avoid using any religious literature that subscribes to any specific sect.  In any case, this is a very limited part of our operation.

            Q:  So does Edhi Sahib still maintain the secular credentials he professed in earlier days?

            A:  My father’s stance remains unchanged as do the principles that have always guided his work.

            Q:  Are you of the same mindset as your father?

            A:  Absolutely, in fact even more so.  Sometimes I have even been called a communist because of my left leanings.

            Q:  Are there plans to expand the foundation?

            A:  Yes, we are planning several new ventures.  Firstly we want to turn all our relief centres (300 across the country) into basic health units – i.e. provide fundamental healthcare services at each centre, which would mean bringing in the necessary personnel, equipment and pharmaceuticals.  In addition we plan to establish non-profit shops catering to the needy, that would stock medicines, clothes etc, which would either be distributed free or sold at nominal rates.  We also want to develop a new graveyard for which there is a dire need.  And there are several other programmes on the anvil.

            Q:  And can you see yourself doing justice to this vast enterprise given that you are now, to all intents and purposes, at its helm?

            A:  A man like my father is born only once in many, many centuries.  I am not worthy to kiss the dirt off the soles of his feet.  He is truly a missionary and his zeal cannot be matched.  But I have been given this awesome responsibility, and to fritter it away, to not give it my all would be a betrayal of everything my father has taught me and all that he stands for.

            Q:  Finally, just to set the record straight, was there any truth to reports of your father having remarried and of his second wife having decamped with a sizeable amount of gold with an Edhi staff member?

            A:  Yes, this is true.  My father did not go public with the marriage. He wanted to spare my mother and us, and also avoid any complications vis a vis the Foundation in the future, and so he kept it secret.  The woman did steal some money and abscond with a member of the staff, but my father decided not to press charges – he doesn’t believe in litigation.

            Q:  And how did this affect your parent’s hitherto universally acclaimed almost idyllic marriage?

            A:  Naturally my mother was furious.  She didn’t speak to my father for a while and even now occasionally brings it up when piqued.  But it’s over and luckily there were no children from that union which could have created  

complications.

 

Awards Unlimited

 

A shortlist of just some of the honours conferred on Abdul Sattar Edhi.

 

 

1.         Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service, Philippines, 1986.

2.         Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Government of Pakistan, 1989.

3.         Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International Foundation, 1993.

4.         Peace Prize, for services during the Armenian earthquake disaster, USSR, 1998.

5.         Human Rights Award, Human Rights Society of Pakistan.

6.            Khidmat Award Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences.

7.         Shield of Honour Pakistan Army (E & C).

8.         Silver Jubilee Shield College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan, 1962-1987.

9.            Recognition of meritorious services to oppressed humanity during the eighties, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Government of Pakistan, 1989.

10.       The Social Worker of the subcontinent, Government of Sindh, 1989.

11.            Pakistan Civic Award, Pakistan Civic Society, 1992.

12.       Largest Voluntary Ambulance Organisation of the World,  Guinness Book of World Records, 2000.

13.            Hamdan Award for Humanitarian Medical Services, UAE, 2000… U.A.E.

14.            International Balzan Prize 2000 for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood, Italy, 2000. ”