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We Owe it to Our Society
Social Issues
Dr. Shehzad Saleem

The society we live in has an unwritten right on us. It is a family of families and thus it is expected of us to behave as a family member. If we feel agony when a family member is in agony and feel elated when a family member is elated, we should feel no different for members of this larger family. The talents and skills, wealth and blessings we have need to be shared with our society. Let us distribute some part of these favours of God to our society. We could have been without these favours had God intended but He gave them to us even though we did not work for many of them.

We must try to make ourselves aware of the problems found in our society. They can include poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, epidemics, various addictions, lack of shelter, child-labour, child-beggary, cruelty to animals and plants. If we are able to play a role in the eradication of any of these evils, we can regard our unwritten collective responsibility to our society fulfilled commensurate to the effort we put it. In this regard, we need to broaden our vision and break the shackles of caste, race and creed. We are all human beings born from a single father and mother. God does not divide His mercy between His creatures unless they break His covenants. So we too should not be selective in this regard and always try to abide by our covenants.

And we must bear in mind that our contribution to our society starts by discovering our hidden talents and potentials. This discovery is no less than that famous Shakespearean tide which when taken at the flood leads on to good fortune. If we are able to unravel our inner-self and then polish the talents within, they can become formidable and can be effectively put to use for the betterment of our society. And we should also remember that no person on the face of this earth is without at least one talent whether he is literate or illiterate, intelligent or thick-headed, rich or poor. It is only a question of recognizing it at the right time.

   
 
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