Bare Feet, Broken Shoes: Islamabad’s Shameful Secret, Just 4 Kilometers from the Corridors of Power

Islamabad
Zubair kasuri

In the heart of Islamabad, where the halls of power echo with promises of justice and equality, a harrowing reality unfolds just a stone’s throw away. A mere four kilometers from the grand structures housing federal ministers, senators, parliamentarians, law enforcement agencies, the Supreme Court, and the Islamabad High Court, lies the Edhi Home in Sector H-8, across from the prestigious Shifa International Hospital. Behind its walls, a heart-wrenching scene plays out daily.
Over 100 destitute individuals – children, women, the elderly, and the young – are forcibly brought to Edhi Home each day. Their crime? Being poor, homeless, and often barefoot or clad in tattered shoes. They are herded into private cells within the facility, their voices silenced. Any protest is met with the threat of being locked up with a mentally unstable individual, a chilling reminder of the brutality they face. There’s no police presence on-site, yet the iron fist of the law is palpable in the strict enforcement of police orders.

Islamabad’s police officers and women police station personnel, drawing salaries from the public coffers, abdicate their responsibility towards these vulnerable souls. The helpless children are treated no better than animals, crammed into vehicles and transported to Edhi Home, where they are left to fend for themselves.
It’s a shameful irony that Islamabad, the seat of power, remains deaf to the cries of its poorest citizens. No NGOs, no law enforcement agencies, no diplomats step forward to champion the cause of these oppressed individuals. The elite revel in the luxury of five-star hotels, oblivious to the plight of those begging at intersections, signals, and sidewalks.
A recent visit to Edhi Home revealed a scene that tears at the heart. Young children forced to clean, hundreds of people crammed into private cells, their cries and sobs echoing through the halls. Yet, this center, operating under the supposed oversight of the government and the police, seems to exist in a vacuum of accountability.
The poor are first detained at police stations, then Edhi Home officials, after taking their cut, release some. The remaining are directed to contact the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad. But the question remains unanswered: under what law are these people being detained?
This tragedy exposes the hypocrisy at the core of our society. Where is the justice we claim to uphold? Where are the human rights we so proudly proclaim? Where are the Islamic principles we hold dear?
As the poet laments:
> “یہ شہرِ بے حسی، یہاں انسانیت مری،
> ننگے پاؤں، ٹوٹے خواب، یہاں کی منظر کشی،
> اقتدار کے نشے میں، بھولے ہیں سب اصول،
> غریب کی چیخ پر، کانوں میں آتی ہے بھول۔”
>
> “This city of apathy, where humanity has died,
> Bare feet, broken dreams, this is the scene here,
> Intoxicated with power, all principles forgotten,
> The cries of the poor fall on deaf ears.”
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The government and relevant institutions must urgently address this situation and end these atrocities. Effective measures are needed for the rehabilitation of the homeless and destitute. They must be provided legal and social protection to live with dignity.
It is the primary responsibility of the government to ensure the welfare of its citizens. For this, it is necessary to:
* Initiate comprehensive programs to eradicate poverty.
* Establish shelters and rehabilitation centers for homeless people.
* Ensure the protection of children’s rights.
* Reform law enforcement agencies and make them accountable for upholding human rights.
* Raise public awareness and promote social responsibility.
Only then can we build a society where every citizen is treated with dignity and respect.