Yes, it is possible to greatly reduce---if not completely eliminate--- the number of beggars whom we everyday come across with a stretching hand or pot asking for alms. Beggars with a missing limb or holding an emaciated child are common sights in Bangladesh, particularly in the capital Dhaka. These persons who have lost their sense of dignity must not be turned down with harsh words even if they continue to bother or disturb you. All religions strongly prohibit making any unkind remark to a beggar or behaving badly with him. The time is for showing utmost tolerance, even when you find certain beggars who are capable of even vigorous physical work.
It is usually taken for granted that necessities and circumstances, social or natural, force some people to appear humbly before his or her fellow human beings with begging hands for survival. In our society, organised criminal gangs deliberately maim children to employ them in begging. And this indeed is evil and has to be curbed. But beggars in our society are mostly created because of social injustice. During the super cyclones, Cidr and Aila, many people of the southern region of the country were rendered homeless and hearthless. Displaced from their original habitats, in the urban areas, they live rootless lives with some joining the population of the beggars. Had society performed its duties towards these victims of natural disasters properly, they could have returned to their previous life of dignity. Even when vagaries of nature are the cause, society’s inability or even negligence turn these unfortunate people to beg.
But how many beggars are there in Bangladesh? You do not have a figure. According to an estimate, there are around 70,000 beggars who live in the capital alone. But any attempt to reduce or eliminate beggars from our society must first make a count of them and find out the whereabouts of their lives. According to a survey conducted by Bangladesh Centre for Human Rights and Development (BCHRD) in 2013, more than 97 per cent beggars do not like their present way of life and they want to be rehabilitated in society. This means that it is really possible to change their life if right actions can be taken.
And this demands sincerity. If the government, the non-government organisations (NGOs) and wealthy persons of society systematically stand beside them, Bangladesh can indeed be made free of beggars. The nation has made a great stride over the decades in poverty alleviation and with that the number of beggars has also certainly reduced; but beggary is still a matter of great concern here as various negative social and economic dynamics are continuously at play.
In the past, the government tried to rehabilitate beggars, picking them in vans and kept in hospice of some sorts for their rehabilitation. There were even forced attempt to eliminate beggary. During the last ICC world cup in 2011, as it was thought that the sight of beggars in the capital would be disturbing for the visiting foreign guests and it would expose the inherent poverty of society, the government rather inhumanly removed beggars from the capital. A façade of smartness could be created through this, but practically speaking, these are no solutions to this problem. Unless the beggars are truly rehabilitated, given housing facilities with training on livelihoods means, they can never be truly self-dependent thus making the nation free of beggars.
Here, Kishoreganj, an upazila in the far flung northern district of Nilpahamari that was officially declared beggars-free several years ago, can be a case in point. This was a district where several decades ago, there were many lepers who used to visit door to door on horseback with their aching limbs. Such sights no longer exist here. But how could Kishoreganj be made free of all beggars? Of the 916 beggars of the upazila, 137 were brought under the small business programmes, 231 under ‘one house and one farm project’ programme and the rest 648 supports under government’s rehabilitation project by the local upazila administration through the active support of RDRS, a local NGO. The government can emulate the experience of Kishoreganj upazila and systematically, from the micro level, lift beggars from their undignified condition everywhere.
Besides the government and NGOs’ efforts, the rich people of society can make a great difference by helping beggars financially and motivating them to do business or work with the given economic support. In the month of Ramzan, many distribute saris, lungis, money, etc. among the beggars and poor people of society as zakaat. While this act of charity is important, but this does not bring permanent change to their lives; and the cause of poverty alleviation will be better served, if the wealthy people in society spend their zaakat with an aim to rehabilitate beggars in society one after another.
According to one current of thought in Sufism, all created things, including humans, are beggars; only God alone is rich. Many capitalists and development thinkers might not agree with this universal poor condition of created beings. But this stroke of thought, for the discerning eyes, instantly levels all human beings as equal, and equality of human beings is among the greatest of all human ideals. But it is really an unjust thing to create or even nurture an economic or social atmosphere, where we subject some people to ask for foods or something to his fellow human beings. While equality is the greatest among the ideals, work is the crown of all virtues. It is the moral responsibility of society to engage the beggars in productive work.
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