KARACHI: The topic of seminar that evening (Wednesday) at the Arts Council was: Problems of Neglected Senior Citizens. The scheduled speakers, around a dozen, ignored to appear, doing ‘poetic justice’ to the idea, as someone remarked. However, there were one or two exceptions.

Mr Salim Anwer, president of the newly-formed Association for Geriatrics care, a well-meaning person having attained knowledge and practical experience about the problems of the neglected old persons, put up his case convincingly before an audience responsive and in large number. But the later speakers mostly sidetracked and the proposal of founding homes for the old and neglected person was minimized.

Mr Anwer quoted instances of such elders who were kept in most abject and dirty condition by their sons and daughters. Now this was the turning point for the speechifiers to highlight the highest regard, and reverence which the elderly persons deserved from the progney. A speaker came to tears as he explained the intensity of a mother’s love for her child and the pain and distress she undergoes in the process. But there was no controversy about it.

The subject was better explained by Dr Nusrat Ata who demanded that the government should provide social security to the senior citizens and allow maximum benefits to them. With the advancements in the field of medical science, the number of elderly persons continue to rise, which is a serious problem for the third world countries like Pakistan. This point was further elaborated by journalist Sarwer Javed who lamented over the exploitative economic system of the country, the ever-growing financial problems for the middle class, the fragmentation of family units and also the erosion in social values where easy money played havoc. Blinded by immense wealth, people turned their back from old parents.

Dr Ejaz Hussain Syed, an orthopaedic doctor, quoted the example of a family where an elderly and ailing father of eight sons was lying in distress. But Saifur Rehman Girami, so closely associated with the Arts Council, had an easy solution to the problem. While condemning the NGOs for their ‘money-making ventures’ and treating with contempt the clauses of UN charter for the elders, he suggested that ”half of the country’s problems will be solved if we follow the commands of our own book.” Everyone welcomed the advice with clapping.

But the table was finally turned by Justice (r) Abdul Waheed Siddiqui, a member of the Federal Shariat Court. The Western and other industrialized nations, despite their material wealth, were ‘socially backward’, he said and ridiculed the old people’s houses in the West where people after depositing their elderly parents in such homes forget them forever, only recalling them once in a year by sending ‘Fathers Day’ or ‘Mothers Day’ cards. So he suggested to revive the institutions found in early Islamic era where widows, orphans and elderly persons, rendered helpless in the event of Jihad, were given maximum care and protection. The old people’s home is not the answer. However, Justice Siddiqui would give all out support to such institutions found in Islamic era. This was not known as to what would be the shape of such institutions.

Earlier, Baba Najmi in his Punjabi verse beautifully narrated the pain of the ailing and neglected elders. A poem from Khalda Uzma was also quite impressive. Popular humorist Enayat Ali Khan received much applause from the audience for his verses.

The speakers also included Tufail Ahmad Jamani, a Sindh government official, and Mr Mushtaq Masih, Secretary Christian Association. In the last, Mahmood Alam Khalid, General Secretary of the Association, thanked the guests. Ms Asmi Khan did the compering.—Hasan Abidi