Abdul Sattar Edhi

Abdul Sattar Edhi

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Abdul Sattar Edhi
Abdul Sattar Eidhi (A great humanitarian from Pakistan)
BornAbdul Sattar Edhi
1 January 1928
Bantva, Bantva Manavadar,Gujarat, British Raj
Died8 July 2016 (aged 88)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Cause of deathKidney Failure
Resting placeEdhi Village
NationalityPakistani
Other namesAngel of Mercy[1][2]
EthnicityBantva Memon[3]
Known forSocial work
Simple lifestyle
Humanitarian[4]
Spouse(s)Bilquis Edhi
ChildrenFaisal Edhi, Kutub Edhi
Parents
  • Abdul Shakoor Edhi (father)
  • Ghurba Edhi (mother)
AwardsLenin Peace Prize (1988)
Nishan-e-Imtiaz (1989)
Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize(2010)
WebsiteOfficial website
Famous quote
"People have become educated, but have yet to become human." [5]
Abdul Sattar Edhi
Abdul Sattar Edhi (Memoni, Urdu: عبدالستار ایدھی‎; 1 Sindhi: عبدالستار ايڌي‎ January 1928 – 8 July 2016) was a prominent Pakistani philanthropist, social activist,ascetic, and humanitarian. He was the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan and ran the organization for the better part of six decades. He was known as Angel of Mercy and was considered Pakistan's "most respected" and legendary figure.[1][6] In 2013, The Huffington Post said that he might be "the world's greatest living humanitarian."[7]
Revered by many as a national hero, Edhi created a charitable empire out of nothing. He masterminded Pakistan’s largest welfare organisation almost single-handedly, entirely with private company and donations.[8] To many, Edhi was known as the “Father Teresa” of Pakistan.[9]

Early life[edit]

Edhi was born in 1928 in Bantva in the Gujarat, British India.[10] When he was eleven, his mother became paralysed from a stroke and she died when Edhi was 19. His personal experiences and care for his mother during her illness, caused him to develop a system of services for old, mentally ill and challenged people. The partition of India led Edhi and his family to migrate to Pakistan in 1947.[6][11] He then shifted to Karachi to work in a market at a wholesale shop. His mother would give him 1 paisa for his meals and another to give to a beggar.[12] He initially started as a peddler, and later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in Karachi. After a few years, he established a free dispensary with help from his community.[11]
He told NPR in 2009 that "I saw people lying on the pavement ... The flu had spread in Karachi, and there was no one to treat them. So I set up benches and got medical students to volunteer. I was penniless and begged for donations on the street. And people gave. I bought this 8-by-8 room to start my work.

Charity work[edit]

Edhi resolved to dedicate his life to aiding the poor, and over the next sixty years, he single handedly changed the face of welfare in Pakistan. Edhi founded the Edhi Foundation. Additionally, he established a welfare trust, named the Edhi Trust with an initial sum of a five thousand rupees which was later renamed as Bilqis Edhi Trust.[13][14] Regarded as a guardian for the poor, Edhi began receiving numerous donations, which allowed him to expand his services. To this day, the Edhi Foundation continues to grow in both size and service, and is currently the largest welfare organisation in Pakistan. Since its inception, the Edhi Foundation has rescued over 20,000 abandoned infants, rehabilitated over 50,000 orphans and has trained over 40,000 nurses.[15] It also runs more than 330 welfare centres in rural and urban Pakistan which operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped.[16]
The Edhi Foundation, founded by Edhi, runs the world's largest ambulance service (operating 1,500 of them) and offers 24-hour emergency services. It also operates free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women's shelters, and rehab centres for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals.[17] It has run relief operations in Africa, Middle East, the Caucasus region, easternEurope and United States where it provided aid following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. His son Faisal Edhi, wife Bilquis Edhi and daughters managed the daily operations of the organization during his ill health.[15] He was referred as Pakistan's version of Mother Teresa,[18] and the BBC wrote that he was considered "Pakistan's most respected figure and was seen by some as almost a saint."[6]

Recognition[edit]

Together with his wife, Bilquis Edhi, he received the 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. He was also the recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and the Balzan Prize. In 2006, Institute of Business Administration Pakistan conferred an honoris causa degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bedfordshire.[19] In 1989, Edhi received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz from the Government of Pakistan.[20] On 1 January 2014, Edhi was voted the 2013 Person of the Year by the readers of The Express Tribune.[21]He was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Prime Minister of Pakistan with more than 30,000 signing a petition by Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala Yousafzai for his nomination.[22]

Travel issues[edit]

In the early 1980s he was arrested by Israeli troops while entering Lebanon. In 2006, he was detained in Toronto, Canada, for 16 hours. In January 2008, US immigration officials interrogated Edhi at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for over eight hours, and seized his passport and other documents. When asked about the frequent detention Edhi said "The only explanation I can think of is my beard and my dress."[23]

Personal life and death[edit]

Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary.[24] The couple had four children, two daughters and two sons.[1] Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarters in Karachi and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies.[25] Edhi was known for his ascetic lifestyle, owning only two pairs of clothes, never taking a salary from his organisation and living in an apartment next to his organization's office.[6][26][27]
On 25 June 2013, Edhi's kidneys failed; it was announced that he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life unless he found a kidney donor.[28] Edhi died on 8 July 2016 at the age of 88 due to kidney failure after having been placed on a ventilator. His last wishes included the request that his organs were to be donated but due to his ill health, only his corneas were suitable.[29] He was laid to rest at the Edhi Village Karachi.[30]
Reactions to his death came from several high-ranking Pakistani officials. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said "We have lost a great servant of humanity. He was the real manifestation of love for those who were socially vulnerable, impoverished, helpless and poor."[6] The country's head of the army, Raheel Sharif, called him a "true humanitarian."[1]
Abdul Sattar Edhi, donated his eyes to the blind people before his death. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared national mourning on the following day. According to ISPR state honour was given to Edhi by guard of honour and 19-gun-salute. He was only the third Pakistani to receive the historical gun carriage funeral (after Quaid e Azam and Zia ul Haq). President of Pakistan, Chairman Senate, provincial Governors, Chief Ministers, Chief of Army Staff along with chiefs of Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force participated in funeral prayers of Edhi at National Stadium Karachi.[31][32]

Honors and awards[edit]

International awards[edit]

National awards[edit]

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