ABDUL Sattar Edhi’s legacy must be cherished, perpetuated and jealously guarded. Indeed, what he has left behind is one of the world’s largest and most well-organised charities run entirely on non-state donations.

He organised it from scratch and expanded it to dimensions that he himself could not have possibly imagined. Because he was true to the mission he had chosen for himself, Edhi was not concerned with what his detractors thought of him or how they tried to belittle him and his selfless service to humanity.

He continued to serve the poor, and that alone should be the sole concern of Edhi’s successors. We are constrained to write these lines because his successor and son, Faisal, in a radio interview spoke of the difficulties the Edhi Welfare Foundation was facing and the possible decline in donations.

The Edhi scion especially referred to “extremists” and “capitalists” and to some clerics who often denounced his father in the strongest possible terms and did not hesitate to call him a non-believer. That is typical of those who are envious, but that is also how things are in this imperfect world.

Even the Quaid had his critics, but that did not deter him from pursuing his goal. His weapons were honesty and dedication to his mission. Thus the successors of both Jinnah and Abdul Sattar Edhi have had role models.

Overexposure to the media is a double-edged sword, especially for a charity organisation run on private donations.

In his BBC interview, Faisal Edhi spoke of things that will only be exploited by his critics and could render the foundation controversial. That would be a blow to Edhi’s mission and to the poor of Pakistan for whom Edhi centres provide services which the state is unable to deliver.

Those running the Edhi Welfare Foundation should then shun the media, concentrate solely on their job and draw heart from the fact that the ordinary public has reposed trust in their organisation.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2016