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Lahore's choosy beggars thrive in double life
There has been a marked increase of beggars on the streets across Lahore after the Ramadan has begun.
- By Kamila Hyat, Correspondent
- Published: 23:50 September 18, 2007
Lahore: There has been a marked increase of beggars on the streets across Lahore after the Ramadan has begun.
This is because most people give away alms more generously and more often during the fasting month.
There are several tales of how duplicitous many beggars are. People say a man found near the Lahore railway station - looking blind and stooping over a stick - puts away the props of his trade by nightfall and merrily walks home. On some days he emerges late in the evening driving his own car and wearing spotlessly clean dress.
There is another tale of a beggar who lives in a plush mansion and employs three or four domestic servants. An young woman, who thought she was marrying a respectable businessman, allegedly discovered that his real trade was beggary. Still another beggar is known to have three sons who are all educated and hold lucrative jobs in the US.
According to estimates, some beggars rake in more than Rs20,000 (Dh1,250) a month. This is far more than an average domestic servant, labourer or clerical worker earns.
"The fact is that begging is easy. I just sit here, on the pavement and by 6pm I usually have enough to go home," said a bearded beggar at the Liberty Market.
He also confessed the huge scar across his face was the result of clever use of cosmetics.
Some young men who have completed their matriculation say they adopted begging because they could not find any jobs.
"My family shuns me. My brother wants me to work at the shop he runs. But now I am used to begging, and find it a far easier way of life," said Fareed, a young man usually seen begging in the Anarkali Bazaar area. Beggars pick their prey carefully, pestering the vulnerable till they handed out some money.
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