LAST week I had talked about the urgent need of team spirit in the nation in order to be able to put up a brave face against the fury of the elements that hit parts of Pakistan on October 8. It was heartening to see the entire nation standing up on its feet, and standing up in a grand fashion. The spirit, the zeal, the enthusiasm and the commitment on display was simply overwhelming.
We, as a nation, have often shown the tendency to run ourselves down. We complain of a lack of self esteem, a lack of patriotism, a lack of commitment to our nationhood. We tend to be skeptical of our own selves. But this last week has proven beyond an iota of doubt that Pakistan is a great nation. While the government and its various agencies have been doing their bit in the face of serious odds, the man on the street — the common man — took it upon himself to contribute to the national effort without any coaxing. It was great, and I am absolutely proud of being part of a wonderful nation.
In my last column I had mentioned the need for sportspersons to play their role in bringing people closer by using their influence on our sports-mad population. When I picked up the phone and made a few calls to my friends in the sporting fraternity, their response simply left me speechless. They were all big names and are people with a busy lifestyle. But once I floated the idea of joining hands and going to the public for collecting donations for the earthquake victims, everyone I called just put a simple question: when and where do we start? No arguments, no posturing, no reservations. And these people included legends like Javed Miandad, Jahangir Khan, Hasan Sardar, Hanif Khan, Samiullah, Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Iqbal Qasim and Danish Kaneria and Salahuddin.
When all eleven of us launched the campaign in Karachi’s various market shopping areas, the response of the shopkeepers was truly great. They all had been donating funds through various channels, but when they saw their national heroes among themselves in flesh, they just came forward with more donations. Some came up with huge funds, while others, mostly small shopkeepers, could only donate small amounts, but it was not the amount of funds that actually mattered. As I has said in my column last week, as sportsmen, it is our duty to engender a team spirit in the nation, and this purpose was fully served by our exercise.
We continued the campaign for three successive days in various localities, and are now in the process of counting out the funds before every single penny will be deposited in the President’s Relief Fund that has been set up by the government for this purpose. This might take a few days, because we have also received quite a few verbal commitments from leading businessmen, industrialists and philanthropists, and we are following up on all such commitments. For this purpose we have formed a core group comprising Javed Miandad, Jahangir Khan, Salahuddin, Moin Khan and myself. Anyone interested in getting in touch with us for the purpose can do so by linking up with my cell phone — 0333-2288211. I would like to believe that this number will not be misused, and only those genuinely interested in donating funds for the noble cause will make use of it.
Once we are through with the process, all the financial details will be made public through the media, and for the benefit of my readers, I will share everything right here in this column space. Transparency and accountability are two things that we guarantee everyone.
LAST week I had talked about the urgent need of team spirit in the nation in order to be able to put up a brave face against the fury of the elements that hit parts of Pakistan on October 8. It was heartening to see the entire nation standing up on its feet, and standing up in a grand fashion. The spirit, the zeal, the enthusiasm and the commitment on display was simply overwhelming.
In my last column I had mentioned the need for sportspersons to play their role in bringing people closer by using their influence on our sports-mad population. When I picked up the phone and made a few calls to my friends in the sporting fraternity, their response simply left me speechless. They were all big names and are people with a busy lifestyle. But once I floated the idea of joining hands and going to the public for collecting donations for the earthquake victims, everyone I called just put a simple question: when and where do we start? No arguments, no posturing, no reservations. And these people included legends like Javed Miandad, Jahangir Khan, Hasan Sardar, Hanif Khan, Samiullah, Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Iqbal Qasim and Danish Kaneria and Salahuddin.
