A jobless Pakistani citizen has offered his ‘eye for sale’ to feed his poor family.
The Pakistan government has declined to reinstate his job where he claims he was sacked illegally, forcing him to take an unusual act of selling one of his eyes. Raja Iftikhar, 57, a resident of remote village located in Sudhanoti District of Pakistani controlled Azad Kashmir region left his house to meet the Prime Minister in the southern Mirpur city in Pakistani Kashmir.
Mirpur is one of the richest cities of the country, being the hometown of one million prosperous expatriate Pakistani-Kashmiris settled in the UK. It is also called as ‘Mini England’ as it controls one-third of total liquid assets held by overseas Pakistanis.
Raja was unable to meet the premier who was out from the town due to his already planned executive appointments in other cities.
“Yet nobody bothered to help me when I was wondering on the streets of this wealthy town where over 371,000 people live,” Raja says.
Except an artist who donated the poster to the poor man considering that it may attract the attention of the people or government
officials.
“Now I want to sale one of my eyes to nourish myself and my children because I don’t have any permanent source of income after the slaughter of my employment,” says the poster written in Urdu language.
The placard also explains the summary of the details of the circumstances which led to this extraordinary offer.
“I have been protesting in the streets but not body bothered to help me, so I returned home as I can’t walk on the roads without proper food”, Raja says.
Raja’s two-day protest in Pakistan’s wealthiest city went unnoticed by the public and government as well.
In Pakistan this is first of its kind, where a person has offered a priceless organ such as an eye. That said, in the past, media has reported the cases of poor people who offer and sell their organs, such as kidneys, because of utter destitution and severe financial problem.
A father of six children this former government worker was terminated from a public sector department where he served for over 15 years.
“My unkind employer and careless government even did not acknowledge my great sacrifice which I made for them by performing my job honestly,” Raja says.
According to Raja, he lost three of his fingers of left hand working on a drill machine to dismantle rocks in the construction of a road where he was working as mechanic.
All of his six children were enrolled in schools in the past, however, administrations of their schools expelled them from the classes because these unfortunate students could not afford books and uniforms, which are compulsory for every student to have in the learning hours.
“I miss my school where I was studying four subjects,” says his twelve-year old son, Suhail, recalling the memories of school life where, according to him his teacher was ‘good’ but ‘punished him many times because he did not have notebooks of few subjects’.
The boy says that he wants to help his father and siblings, but he is too young. “I don’t think so anybody can give me job because they will think I am very weak for the work.”
Detailed report is available at :
http://www.eurasiareview.com/18082012-poverty-stricken-pakistani-citizen-offers-eye-for-sale-to-feed-children/
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