Raja Nusrat Ali
”If it is a little moist, then this soil is very fertile.” This was the optimistic view of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, the poet of the East, about the Muslim community of the Subcontinent which proved true mainly in the form of a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. However, in the present circumstances when all is not well and all is not bad, if some act of a person become ray of hope for the others it must be debated and appreciated. One such example was seen in Dhumma Malka village of district Gujrat in the last week when the Deputy Commissioner of district Safdar Hussain Virk along with Assistant Commissioner Bilal Zubair and two local government officials visited the said village to inaugurate some developmental projects such as village park and union council office. Deputy Commissioner was also briefed about the under-construction link road and a recently completed Government Elementary School building. The question arose whose influence was working for the release of special funds for that village whereas the present Punjab government had not released any fund to the public representatives so far. The eminent inhabitants of Dhumma Malka revealed to the Media men that the government was not funding for the projects in the village. It is the benevolence of Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas who is spending his own money for the developmental work selflessly.
Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas is also resident of Dhumma Malka village and works in Kuwait. He is former vice chairman of his union council and belongs to Pakistan Muslim League (N) but his mania to make his village an ideal place for living as regards its facilities is above politics. Neither he demands nor he pins hope for public vote in lieu of his services for the village people. In fact, he wants to set standard of the local body politics with respect to services to public. To Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas if one has love for his people and will to serve the community it is possible in any circumstances. It can be at your own expense if you can afford or you can get the cooperation of the rich for the wellbeing of your community instead of waiting for the state funds which are rare and always insufficient. There is no need to divide the community on political basis and indulge in unhealthy factionalism which is injurious to local development and complicates the problems. In the present circumstances of political instability, the right way to serve your village and Union Council is to depend on yourself or gather the rich people to work on self-help basis for the community. There is no dearth of well-off political families like that of Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas in Dhumma Malka village. So initially Hafiz Zahid Abbas Malik’s political rivals in the village did not believe that he would be so selfless and spend his money for the wellbeing of the people of his village irrespective of their political affiliations but Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas proved all their speculations wrong.
The presence of Deputy Commissioner in Dhumma Malka village signified that something extraordinary, positive and notable had happened. The visit did not involve any personal interest of the District Chief Officer with Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas but perhaps, he considered himself duty-bound to highlight and appreciate the development. The act of the Deputy Commissioner really, deserves rich tributes. The political leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (N) should have been the first to appreciate and take credit of his worker’s humanitarian approach but unfortunately, we are not living in that political culture.
Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas has proved his sincerity of purpose to his opponents by funding generously for the projects costing more than rupees one hundred million. Firstly, he financed for the building of Government Girls Elementary School of his village. The village girls were not benefitting from this school for lack of its proper building and government grants were delaying due to political uncertainty and other reasons. So, Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas took upon himself to build the school building in accordance with the set standard of the government of Punjab. After completion in due course of time at the cost of 20 million rupees he handed over the building to Punjab Education Department Gujrat. He also provided qualified private female teachers to the said school to make up the deficiency of teachers at his own expense.
He spent about five million rupees to construct the walls to reasonable height around the two graveyards and two funeral prayer halls at different places in the village. He also spent huge money to plant grass, shady and flowery trees to make the environment pleasant for the people who come to offer funeral prayers. Hafiz Zahid Abbas Malik is also providing funds for the construction of link road of about one kilometer which connects Dhumma Malka village with Gujrat-Bhimber Road. The drains of reasonable dimension are also being constructed on both sides of the said link road. The estimated cost of construction of link road along with drains is about 20 million rupees. Similarly, he thought of making use of common unused land of the village for family park but initially some people opposed the idea just for the sake of opposition. The vision of Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas involved the best public interest so the majority of the people cherished the idea and extended moral support to the ambitious young man who wants betterment not only of his family but also of the people of his village. So, the opposition of the project died down. The development work for the village park on half acre plus area is in progress and its estimated cost is rupees 20 million. It will be walled park with facilities for women and children. The date trees and other plants are being planted to make the environment of the park healthy and pleasant. Nearby from the Park a large gutter hole is under construction for the drainage from the park toilets. Deputy Commissioner of Gujrat also inaugurated the construction of Union Council Office at new site which will also be funded by Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas.
At the moment Pakistan is undergoing serious economic crisis and foreign debts are used to meet different government and state requirements, and some money is distributed among public representatives which is further distributed to the local bodies. The amount is always insufficient and does not reach every village of the constituency. The economic crisis is multiplying because of the increase in due debt service and incapacity of the governments to meet the revenue targets. So, Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas’s initiative is worth following and worth promoting. Among other steps Punjab Chief Minister Ms. Maryam Nawaz must present Hafiz Malik Zahid Abbas as role model and invite Pakistani diaspora from all over the world to cooperate for the uplift of people of Pakistan at grass root level. Overseas Pakistanis should take responsibility to collect and control the funds, and also involve themselves in planning and materializing the rural uplift programmes. This will be very tangible contribution on the part of overseas Pakistanis towards overcoming the economic crisis of Pakistan.
