Suit the Action to the Words

Suit the Action to the Words

1990 11 November 12 Suit the Action to the Words (383) A few months ago I happened to meet one of our regular readers of Al-Risala, a Mr. Kuldip Singh Gujral, who visited our centre with one of his friends, Mr. Rahat Hashmi. In the course of the conversation, the latter told me of how they had been out walking on a Delhi street one day when they saw a sikh boy begging. Mr. Gujral at once stopped, called the boy and asked him how he – a sikh boy – came to be begging. After hearing his tale of woe, he gave him his address and asked him to come there the following day so that he could take him to some office to get him a job.

It is generally accepted that Sikhs do not beg. But I did not know the reason until I heard this story. This incident has two distinct sides to it. One is Mr. Gujral’s questioning of the boy as to why he begged. The other is Mr. Gujral’s asking him to come to his place to secure him a job. Mr. Gujral did not stop at just asking the boy why he was begging. He did not just satisfy himself as to whether the boy’s circumstances actually warranted such behaviour. He took the further, and more important step of actually trying to do something to improve the boy’s condition.

There is no dearth of people to castigate begging and beggars. They speak against them, write against them, denounce them and their practices whenever they have the opportunity. But making speeches and writing pamphlets cannot put an end to begging. Beggary will only disappear, if those who can afford it take it upon themselves to eradicate it. For this to happen, the more affluent members of society must be ready to play a practical role.

It would be ideal if there were no beggars at all in the country. But this will be possible only when the peddlers of fine phrases begin to suit their actions to their words. Words without the follow-up of action are of benefit only to the speakers who are automatically hailed as the champions of the downtrodden, without their actually having done anything to help them.

The credit for reform will go only to those who are willing to put their ideas into practice.