The good Samaritans among us

It is quite strange that in these times of self-serving megalomaniacs, there are lots of others who could be seen standing by the humanity in its woes. Nobody needs to beseech them. They appear on the scene of their own volition. They are born to serve humanity. These people avoid focus or limelight. They do not even expect recognition.
Like in all societies, irrespective of economic status, Bangladesh too can boast of these people. At a time when almost everyone is preoccupied with self-promotion in terms of material gains, we discover, to our pleasant surprise, many Samaritans among us. However, the big and small cities and sleepy towns, too, have their own altruists. After all, sufferings and deprivation pervade all communities; it's their degrees that make the difference.
The other day, popular magazine programme Ittaydi on BTV presented Dr Edric Baker from New Zealand who has been providing healthcare to the poor, disease-afflicted people in the Modhupur reserved forest area. The doctor has set up a simple healthcare centre at a village in the area, quite far from capital Dhaka. The area has no hospital, or academically skilled physicians. The doctor has been treating people in the village without fees for thirty years. Now at his elderly stage, but still full of ebullience and humanitarian spirit, the New Zealander has been given the citizenship of Bangladesh, the programme tells the viewers. In a short interview with the programme's host the foreign doctor speaks of his mission, urging people to make small contributions so that he can establish a full-fledged hospital in the area.
There are reasons behind the selfless service to people in a distant land rendered by altruists like Dr Edric Baker. Maybe, they have the in-born virtue of serving the distressed. Besides the people from other countries, we find many such great souls among the locals. The readers may have heard about Polan Sarkar, who lives in a village in Bagha upazila in Rajshahi district in the country's western region. Sarkar has a completely different mission. He has dedicated himself to the lofty task of making the rural people enlightened through books. For over thirty years, this gentleman, himself an avid reader and now in his mid-eighties, has been lending books to villagers. He buys books with his own money and distributes them walking door to door in his and the adjoining villages. For his offbeat service, Polan Sarkar has earned the sobriquet of the 'Walking Library'. However, thanks to the recent print and electronic media reports on him, he is now widely known in the country. This has helped him a lot. In his phase of obscurity, Polan Sarkar had to engage in continued struggle to arrange money for buying books. These days, upon completion of the major part of his life on the mission, the book-lover gets regular supplies of donated books. For his selfless service, Polan Sarkar has been honoured with the state award Ekushey Padak.
In the bygone days, philanthropists in this country used to regularly provide funds for the poor people. Many others would establish educational institutions, hospitals, clubs and other social organisations which remained open to all. Hundreds of schools and colleges bearing the names of the rich people concerned or their parents or blood relatives are still operating. Apart from helping the poor and the destitute, the rich and enlightened people have introduced educational scholarships, stipends etc., for poor but meritorious students. A lot of those incentives survive still today. Nowadays, government-sponsored and private institutional fillips are aplenty. Due to the fact that administration is politically skewed in one or another way, many of these incentives turn out to be profiled. Discriminations in choosing their recipients spoil the ostensibly lofty purpose of the stimulus.
However, individually-introduced charity services are also found to be smeared with parochialism and whims. Many launch social missions to win undue favour of a political party or a clique they back. Naturally, these ventures get wound up when the purposes are served. The hard truth is when quasi-charity seeks to earn popular acceptance through gimmicks, it is destined to become a failure.
We cannot but turn nostalgic about the days, when fellow-feeling played a dominant role in the shaping of an ideal society. The local philanthropists aside, lots of foreigners came to Bangladesh and neighbouring Paschimbanga to eventually settle down along with their charity entities. The most prominent name that comes up among these persons is that of Mother Teresa, who dedicated the major part of her life to her charity hospital in Kolkata. In Bangladesh, we can recall the sacrifices of the heroic foreigners, who came forward to save the unarmed Bengalees from genocide in the then occupied land. Many of them risked their lives as they sheltered the freedom fighters and provided them with all kinds of help.
In modern times, charities, in both poor and rich countries, have many forms. They vary from country to country, from region to region. The extent of poverty or affluence of the countries concerned also plays a role, so does the inter-state relations. While in Bangladesh corporate social responsibility is a major issue, it does dot merit much importance in an advanced country. However, the the mission to serve the deprived in society is the same everywhere.
shihabskr@ymail.com