I am a hypocrite, a phony and a two-faced crook
From the lap of luxury, right here in my room at the Islamabad Marriott, I will write of a child in rags, a five-year-old boy without shoes, who loiters and plays in hot sand on a seething afternoon somewhere on the outskirts of Sheikhupura
He is skinny as a needle
His dark sunburnt skin hangs loose from his bony frame
He is hungry
He is stunted
I have just returned from Sakura, the five-star hotel’s Japanese restaurant, where I had sushi, tempura and red snapper followed by a scrumptious portion of French pralines
As you can tell, I’m not any hypocrite; I’m a US-educated hypocrite with refined manners and good taste
I wear Ralph Lauren and Boss
It serves well to conceal my phony interior
I studied Kant, Shakespeare and Dostoevsky
I completed my master’s thesis on human glioblastoma cells at a research hospital deep in the heart of Texas
Oh yes, all my ex’s live in Texas
But most importantly, I can speak English fluently
Back to the boy in Sheikhupura
He is not the only stunted child in the town
Pakistan has the highest growth rate of stunted children at 45% followed by Afghanistan at 41% (PubMed, 2020)
Poor maternal nutrition, unhygienic living conditions, contaminated drinking water, malnutrition, undernutrition, poor sanitation, lack of education and absence of government-supported community-driven interventions, all contribute to the problem
As a Unicef study stresses, stunting is not only a physical impairment, it adversely affects mental and cognitive functions
To make matters worse, 23 million children aged 5 to 16 do not attend school
For Pakistan, it’s a national emergency
Our children are our future
It has been shown that there is a vital link between nutritional status, human capital and economic standing
Eradicating poverty and malnutrition and improving health and education will eventually lead to a more robust human capital capable of increased innovation and productivity
Due to recent economic meltdown, Pakistan has become a living hell
But whose Pakistan? There is Pakistan of those who drive Land Cruisers and Range Rovers and live in luxurious mansions and sprawling bungalows
They send their children abroad for studies
According to World Inequality Database, the top 10% in Pakistan have a share of 43% of national income
In the other Pakistan, children as young as 10 work in factories and brick kilns all day long
They are employed in cotton harvesting, carpet weaving, coal mining, forced begging, sexual exploitation
Can you hear anyone asking: are the kids alright? In the 1990s, I felt proud as a Pakistani when I found out that we accounted for 75% of world production of footballs (soccer balls)
But who was stitching the footballs? Children between the ages of 5 and 14
Whose children? Yours? Mine? They are also hired as domestic help
The homeowners treat them worse than their pets
On a tragic day in November 2019, a 16-year-old maid was beaten to death for demanding to get paid
In January 2014, a 10-year-old boy servant in Lahore was accused of stealing
His punishment? He was mauled to death after his hands and feet were tied with rope
Unfortunately, these demonic atrocities are more rampant in our society than we would like to admit
I am back in Nadia Café for the afternoon High Tea
I’m enjoying my second cup of tea
Yes, a second cup
After all, I’m a two-faced crook
Now, back to the 5-year-old hungry boy
The very skinny boy
The boy with no shoes, no cap
He hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday
He is not loitering or playing any longer
He is holding his empty stomach
His tearful eyes are now chasing every passerby
Does anyone even know he’s there? He is begging for a freaking roti for God’s sake! Can you hear Ibne Insha asking: ye bacha kis ka bacha hai? This child
This dark-skinned sickly child
This child with no toys
This stunted child
Whose child is this? This child is mine
This child is yours
Ye bacha sub ka bacha hai
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2022
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| Date: | 23-Jun-2022 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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