VIP culture at Edhi’s funeral – an insult to his legacy

It was disturbing to see how Abdul Sattar Edhi’s funeral was hijacked by VIPs and their protocol staff. Because of the security arrangements, there were blockades at several places and ordinary people faced difficulties in reaching the venue. The front row of the funeral was occupied by the politicians who are a million miles away from everything Edhi stood for.

The common people who Edhi sheltered and protected all his life, were made to stand behind the barbed wires. Women who wanted to attend the funeral were not allowed to enter the premises of the National Stadium Karachi. Rangers’ personnel were stopping them at the gate of the venue reportedly saying, “Ladies ko ijaazat nahi.” (Ladies are not allowed) The needy and oppressed, whom Edhi so dearly loved, were nowhere to be seen. Even Edhi’s closest family members could not find space in the front rows.

Edhi was a people’s man and his funeral should have shown just that, but the filthy VIP culture of Pakistan once again created problems for ordinary citizens. A ‘state funeral’ of this sort is the last thing Edhi would have wanted. The segregation between VIPs and masses is precisely what Edhi stood against.

The arrangements that barred women from entering the venue and kept the common people away from the front rows, to make way for the ‘VIPs’, cannot and should not be justified in the name of security. It was the duty of the government to ensure that the security arrangements don’t become a hurdle in the way of masses that came to say a final goodbye to their hero.

Edhi spent his life trying to help those in need, but his funeral was hijacked by the greedy politicians who despise the common man and have never tried to work for their betterment. For a man who owned only two sets of shalwar kameez and one pair of shoes, a funeral of this sort had irony written all over it.

In an ideal word the funeral of Edhi would have been led by the poor and downtrodden who found shelter at Edhi homes, the orphans who were orphaned again after his passing. But of course our power-hungry politicians would not want to miss such a great chance for photo-op and PR.

By not allowing women to bid farewell to Abul Sattar Edhi, the authorities have insulted Edhi’s legacy and furthered the agenda of religious extremists. During his life, the religious right opposed Edhi and some even declared him an infidel. He was disliked by the clerics who were jealous of his fundraising power and lack of religious bias in serving the people. In one of his interviews, Edhi had said: “Mazhabi tabqay ne mera boycott kia” (The religious section boycotted me).

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairman IA Rehman said that security arrangements at such a high profile funeral are inevitable, but the government should have evolved a better system to ensure the participation of ordinary people in the funeral.

Talking to Pakistan Today, he said that the government did not do anything to help him in his humanitarian work when he was alive and on his funeral they were falling over each other to get their photo-op. Rehman also condemned the reports of women being barred from attending Edhi’s funeral and said that this was totally against his principles.

Columnist and former anchor Raza Rumi said, “High security due to the VVIP movement resulted in the usual traffic screening and barricades, thereby preventing many ordinary folks who wanted to participate in the last rites of their saintly hero.”

With the political and military high ups, the privileged elites all taking advantage of this moment was nothing less than ironic, he said, while speaking to Pakistan Today.

Raza further said that Edhi’s work and his struggle was to make up for the negligence and callousness of Pakistan’s ruling classes who have not kept social services as their agenda. They were all there to prove their love for a man who had to make up for their decades-long indifference, he said.

Civil society activist Jibran Nasir said that the nation requested a state funeral for Edhi Sahab because that is the least we could do to honour him. A state funeral includes civilian and military leadership being present and therefore segregation was made in the name of security. But Edhi never required any security or protection to go anywhere, he said.

“Edhi was loved way more than any civilian or military leader in our country and that is what our leaders with all their powers should think about.”

Commenting on women’s absence from the funeral, Jibran said that patriarchy doesn’t allow our society to think beyond men and added that it was shameful how the government did not make arrangements for women to attend the funeral.