Beggar nuisance up at Charminar

Hyderabad: The growing number of beggars near the Charminar is a matter of concern to the tourists that flock to see the iconic structure, and to shoppers.

The number of beggars increases a month before Ramzan, when more people are out shopping in this locality. The beggars come from neighbouring Tandur, Vikarabad, Zaheerabad, Mahbubnagar, and Guntur and even from other states such as Bihar, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

Varsha Bhargavi, a child rights activist, says that many of them are not actually beggars and do odd jobs at other times of the year.

“During Ramzan, these people take to begging as a part time business and they camp in the old city for the whole month. Food is not a big problem for them. This is just an additional source of income for them.”

“Since Ramzan is a holy month for Muslims, they are more generous and this generosity is being taken advantage of,” says Ayesha Siddiqui, a resident of Moghulpura.

She added, “People from all corners of the city shop at Charminar during Ramzan and the number of stalls and shops increase. The irritating thing is that whenever we are engrossed in shopping, the beggars keep on disturbing us until we give them some money.”

“They carry children around with them to gain sympathy and the children keep pulling at our dresses or shopping bags,” she said.

Mohammed Abdul Shukoor, who owns a perfume shop near Macca Masjid, said that beggars do roam the streets on other days too but during the month of Ramzan, their number increases. Their numbers have increased in the past 15 days, and a new trick is carrying a photo and bio-data of some person they claim is a cousin, who is in hospital and needs money for an operation.

Deputy commissioner of police, south zone, V Satyanarayana, told this newspaper that more police will be deployed as the beggar problem is known to the police.

“To avoid any problem to visitors and devotees, we will deploy more police and they will be in civil uniform to monitor each and every activity. Last year 20 petty cases were booked against troublemakers,” he said.

Alms to beggars is not zakaat: Experts
Ramzan is a holy month for Muslims, when they are enjoin-ed to do zakaat or charity. But there is a difference between doing zakaat and giving alms to beggars, say religious scholars.

“People should not confuse the two. If a person is giving alms to a beggar, then it is completely his choice. But for zakaat there is the condition that it should be 2.5 per cent of the total income a person earns in a year,” said Maulana Abdul Mannan.

He says that a person should do zakaat only if he is qualified to do it. Also, the first preference for doing zakaat is one’s poor relatives. Apart from this, anyone doing zakaat should follow the edicts.