Staff Reporter
Peshawar
As soon as Eid festival approaches, beggars throng in jam-packed markets and roads to secure maximum alms and charities for which they often adopt irritating techniques to annoy people during the shopping spree despite the fact that begging has been made illegal under the law of the land.
On eve of Eid, both the professional and non-professional beggars make their way to the most lucrative markets of the city from different districts of the province and other regions to make money. For this purpose, they employ various tricks to exploit human nature and religious sentiments by crying, weeping and chasing people in public spaces while wearing miserable attire.
It has been witnessed that these unchecked and sometimes trained beggars are chasing Eid shoppers in the markets or running after them or behind their cars to collect maximum alms in the name of Zakat, Fitrana, Sadqa and Khairat during last days of Ramazan. Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Hashtnagri, Gantagar, Firdus, Nothia, Tehkal, Gulbahar, Faqirabad, Karimpura, Board and Saddar areas are flooded with beggars occupying key points in front of shopping malls, mosques, roads signals, bus terminals, railway station, traffic squares and streets in a bid to secure maximum alms on the eve of Eidul Fitre.
Despite implementation of social distancing by the government against the COVID-19, they keep on holding and touching the customers when they come out of their vehicles which could expose them to deadly virus. Most of the beggars had untreated wounds to get peoples’ sympathies, while many carry medical prescriptions and disability certificates to ‘prove’ their need or helplessness without knowing that such unlawful practices may expose Eid shoppers to a number of communicable diseases including the COVID-19.
Some professional beggars in the guise of labourers and daily-wagers with agricultural tools in hands are also roaming around in bazaars and streets till late night while begging in the name of losing jobs during the lockdown.
