At 73, Peerzaada Hamidullah Qadri, devotes himself to running a charitable trust. Aliya Bashir reports. After a long teaching career Peerzaada Hamidullah Qadri retired as a chief education officer in 1995. It was time to take rest, and Qadri ignored offers from private schools. “After retirement I got lot of offers to join as a principal in various schools. But, somehow I failed to get motivated,” recalls Qadri.
But when a relative asked him to work for charity, he couldn’t say, no.
“One of my relatives asked me to join the charitable trust. I agreed without giving a second thought.”
The Haseena Jahangir Women’s Welfare Trust located in Sheeraz Chowk, Khanyar was founded by one of Qadri’s relatives, after his wife died.
For Qadri it was an opportunity to work for the downtrodden. “Every good act is charity,” says Qadri.
Born in 1937, Qadri did Munshi Fazil (a year’s degree in Persian) from the then J&K University in 1954 and was appointed a teacher the same year.
“When I got first position in Persian, I was immediately appointed as a teacher. At that point the demand for learning Persian language was very high, that proved very beneficial for me,” he says.
In 1957, he completed his graduation in Arts and Adeeb-i-Fazil (in Urdu) from the Government oriental college.
“I was always inclined towards higher studies, which was not sidelined by my job. In fact, the continuous interaction with children further motivated me,” says Qadri who completed his Masters in Persian from Punjab University in 1962 and in Urdu from University of Kashmir in 1964.
He retired as Chief Educational Officer (CEO) in 1995. He says that, he was always interested in helping the needy.
“To help people in all possible ways had always been my passion. I cannot see injustice. This was one of the reasons that I was on and off transferred to many distant places,” he says.
At the trust, Qadri says he has registered two dozen widows who get a monthly stipend of 300 to 500 rupees.
His survey starts from reading a newspaper to look for victims of different circumstances.
“I am a keen newspaper reader. Whenever I come across any case, in need of help, I immediately get them registered and try to help them according to their need,” he says.
The trust has already identified many widows who live in bad condition and have no source of income. Qadri says that he does not help anyone on mere recommendation, instead he crosschecks the facts before extending any help.
“Whatever help is possible we do that which is sometimes through charity also. During Ramadhan and on some special religious occasions we distribute relief funds among the less privileged persons”.
The trust also bears the expenses of around 18 orphan girls who are studying in different schools.
“In order to check their presence in their schools, I check their result performances often. Our registered children have a good performance as they know that they won’t get their fee unless I am not satisfied with them,” says Qadri.
 The trust also helps needy women earn their livelihood.  It was also imparting craft training to a dozen girls and some of the more needy ones were given stipend too.
“We were giving different craft trainings to the orphans along with stipend. But when we noticed that our skill was not properly utilized and they were coming just for the sake of money we stopped,” informs Qadri.
Now the trust runs only one tailoring centre and a Darsgah.
“I believe if we don’t have any charity in our heart that is the worst kind of heart trouble. So, in serving people I feel very ecstatic and jubilant.”

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