Influx of professional beggars annoy Eid shoppers in Ramazan; action demanded

PESHAWAR (APP): The influx of professional beggars arrived from different cities to Peshawar have started employing different techniques to get maximum charity and alms that often annoying Eid shopers in Ramazan.
With less than a week left in Eidul Fitr celebrations, the professional and unprofessional beggars of different cities of KP and Punjab province thronged the city’s markets and shopping arcades to secure maximum alms and charities by adopting irritating techniques, which are annoying Eid shoppers.
“I came from Attock to Peshawar to secure maximum charity and alms in last days of Ramazan;” said Rehmat Shah, a street begger while talking to APP at Qissa Khwani.
He said that people of all faiths and communities were living in Peshawar that helped the beggars to collect maximum charity in Ramazan.
Inspite of begging has been declared illegal under the country’s laws, the beggars’ influx including male, female, children and persons with disabilities are being witnessed in the jam-packed crossing points, mosques’ gates and mostly frequented public places and food outlets in the city and cantonment areas mostly before Aftar.
These days, Hashtnagri, Gantagar, Firdus, Nothia, Tehkal, Gulbahar, Faqirabad, Meena Bazaar, Karimpura, Shafi Market, Saddar Road, University Town, City Tower, Jawad Tower and Deans Trade Centre are flooded with beggars.
They have occupied key points in front of shopping malls, mosques, road signals, bus terminals, railway stations, traffic squares and streets.
Most professional beggars employ various tricks to exploit human nature and religious sentiments by crying, weeping and chasing people in public places while wearing miserable attire.
The unchecked trained beggars are pestering Eid shoppers in markets or running after them or behind their cars to collect maximum alms in name of Zakat, Fitrana, Sadqa and Khairat.
Some beggars roaming with exposed wounds keep on holding and touching customers when they come out of their vehicles, which could expose them to contiguous diseases and viral infections including coronavirus, TB, flue and chest related infections.
It has been witnessed that some beggars were emotionally blackmailing people by carrying medical prescriptions and disability certificates.
‘Alms’ seekers can also be seen in city markets asking for charity in the name of construction of mosques while many beggars were resorting to lame-duck excuses like seeking treatment of their ailing family or lost jobs.
“Begging has emerged as a major social evil in recent years to the nuisance of Peshawarties,” Professor Ehtisham Qaiser who was irritated by beggars during Eid shopping at Hashtnagri bazaar Peshawar, told APP on Sunday.
Besides bazaars and shopping arcades, he said Eid shoppers were facing great inconvenience at traffic signals, food restaurants, bus terminals, railways stations, mosques, hospitals, markets and public places due to swarms of beggars in Peshawar.
“It is heartbreaking to see young girls and boys’ beggars carrying wipers in hands often start cleaning cars windows on traffic signals without permission in order to get money.”
He said some beggars come with water bottles, flowers, garlands, caps and rosary to give an impression that they are selling it, but actually they beg for money without an intention of selling anything.
Khayam Khan, a resident of Nowshera said he was busy in Eid shopping along with his family at Qissa Khwani where a teenage beggar with black colour in hand rushed towards me, asking for money or otherwise his clothes would be made dirty.
“In order to save my clothes, I immediately offered him Rs50, which was refused. On several requests, the beggar accepted Rs 100 and started running towards other shoppers by using the same technique that was intolerable in a civilized society.
He demanded the KP government to take instantaneous action against swarms of beggars in the city so that people could take a sigh of relief and do Eid shopping with ease.
“Beggary has been declared illegal under West Pakistan Loitering Ordinance 1958,” said Malik Ashfaq advocate.
Unfortunately, he said this law had not been fully implemented, which resulted in an increase of beggars especially during Ramazan.
He said central and provincial laws such as Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997, West Pakistan Vagrancy Ordinance 1959, Pakistan Employment of Children Act 1991, KP Child Protection and Welfare Act (KPCPWA) 2010 and KP Orphanage Supervision and Control Act 1976 had been promulgated to check drug addiction and streets begging.
Similarly, KPCPWA was enacted in 2010 to protect rights of women and children, but it has not been fully implemented on ground, resulting in swarms of beggars in Peshawar.
He said the role of Child Welfare Commission (CWC) was important to provide protection to child beggars in KP.
He urged the KP government to impose a ban on child beggars on the pattern of Sindh province and direct the social welfare department to pick child beggars from markets, roads, traffic signals, streets and rehabilitate them at their welfare centres.
The spokesman of the social welfare department said that special drive have been launched to shift drugs addicts beggars to the rehabilitation centres for treatment.
Besides treatment, he said that these beggars were being provided vocational education and training to make them useful citizens of the society.
He urged well off people to donate alms and charity to their known poor deserving people and reputable organizations having clean service record so that their alms could be used for a noble cause.