AJK President calls for equal opportunities to orphans,neglected children

AzadJammu and Kashmir (AJK) President, Sardar
Masood Khan has called for theprovision of equal opportunities and enabling environment to
the orphans andneglected children to mould them into responsible citizens of the country.

“Takingcare of those who have lost one or both parents is our collective social andreligious
obligation as it is not the will of Allah that they (orphans) remainneglected or are pushed
aside in society,” the President said while addressingat an Iftar reception hosted by him for
orphans in the President House inMuzaffarabad.

Theevent was attended by AJK Minister for Social Welfare, Mutharama Noreen Arif,Secretary
General Pakistan Orphan Care Forum, Nisar Ahmed, Director GeneralAnjuman Faiz-ul-
Islam, Professor Niaz Irfan, Director General Orphan CareProgram, Muhammad Irfan Bashir,
Secretary General Al-Khidmat Foundation, AftabAlam Advocate and a large number of
orphans kids being supported and sponsoredby Pakistan Orphan Care Forum (POCF), an
umbrella of orphans- focusednon-governmental organizations.

ThePresident in his speech emphasized that orphans must not feel, alone, abandonedor
neglected, and encouraged the children to grab whatever opportunities theyfind to excel in
education and to make their way forward in the society.

Hesaid wars, social and political conflicts, natural calamities, diseases andaccidents were
some of the causes that leave thousands of children orphans andparentless.

Peopleof AJK had experienced one such catastrophe back in 2005 that left thousands
ofwomen without husbands and thousands of children parentless, Khan recalled.

“With so many orphans around us, we can feel the pain of being parentless andthe pang of a
child’s grieving for losing his/her parents more than any other,”he went to say.

MasoodKhan said that in a Muslim society, an orphan should get care by others at parwith
the care one provides to his/her own children by ensuring that all orphansget physical,
mental and emotional well-being without any discrimination.

Thisis what the noble Quran and traditions of our Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessingof Allah
Be Upon Him) teach us, the president said and added that the Holy lifeof our beloved
prophet was an example for us who himself was an orphan andtaught

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