Mistreating Parents

Mistreating Parents

    This factor seemed to be extremely disliked in our custom, if a person mistreats his parents or any one of them. But now a days this is, perhaps the most commonly factor which can be seen in our society of children’s mistreatment with their parents, usually sons. Joint family systems were encouraged and the elderly parents used to live their whole lives with their children and grand children. The most prior lesson which was to be taught to the youngsters and is also extremely emphasized in our religion was to respect and obey their parents and also other elderly people in the family. There was no concept of Old Age Homes or Senior Citizen Centers in our society. But the situation has now totally changed. “The number of aged people being admitted to the Old age homes has dramatically increased in the past four years,” says Abdul Sattar Edhi, adding that they have numerous such people who have been admitted since years at their facility. His foundation opened the first Old Age Home in the city and the figure has now gone up to six, however the number is more higher because there are several such institutions which are unregistered with the government and are working for this social cause.

    Whenever the people of our country want to argue that their society is better than the West’s they give the examples of how we treat our elderly people. Only callous and ungrateful people send their parents or grandparents to old-age homes, they argue. However, the reality in Pakistan, at least, seems to indicate that our social reality is not that much different. When elders began to feel abandoned and helpless, they go to old age homes out of despair. In the face of poverty and cruelty, the twin attacks that often brought on depression, they feel forced to leave their son’s or daughter’s home and seek shelter elsewhere. It is a proven fact that nearly all children who mistreat their parents are themselves mistreated by their upcoming children....