Bhikharistan: Begging is a Pak ‘biz’ worth PKR 42 bn; 5k beggars deported to Islamabad!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: That Pakistan is infamous as a begging country is no secret. It has secured over two dozen bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) alone in as many years. And its current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has publicly admitted that Pakistan is ashamed of going abroad with a begging bowl!
Many have mocked that Pakistan is the world’s biggest exporter of beggars–dogs and donkeys, too!!
Now, in a major embarrassment for the broke country, Pakistan’s U-turn Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the problem has reached alarming levels, making it difficult for Pakistanis to get even visas from other countries, the media reported on Monday.
He estimated that around 22 million people in Pakistan are involved in begging, generating about PKR 42 billion annually, highlighting the scale.
Hugely embarassed, Pakistan even placed 4,300 beggars on a no-fly list.
Even Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the National Assembly recently that a total of 5,402 Pakistani beggars were deported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE since January 2024. They included 4,850 deported in 2024 alone, while 552 ‘returned’ to Pakistan this year.
After Saudi Arabia, Iraq sent back the second highest number of Pakistanis, at 247, while the UAE, which raised serious concerns with Islamabad and tightened visa rules for Pakistanis, deported 58 people.
In 2023, during a Senate Committee meeting, the then Overseas Ministry Secretary, Zulfiqar Haider, revealed that the majority of beggars arrested abroad — around 90 percent — were Pakistani nationals. Many of them travelled on pilgrimage visas to countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, and ended up begging there.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had also taken a dig at Pakistan’s economic struggles during an event in Jammu and Kashmir. He mocked the country’s condition, saying it has become so dire that it is now commonly associated with begging rackets.
His remarks followed the release of a USD 1.023 billion fresh aid package to Pakistan by the IMF, after India launched Operation Sindoor early this month.
A couple of years ago, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also admitted that Pakistanis are often seen as beggars even in friendly countries.
When the official data emerged, social media erupted with myriads of reactions. One of the users with the handle @bainjal commented, “Pakistani beggars” the actual business model of the failed terror state. Munir begs from the IMF, Pakistanis beg across the world.”
Another user @ashokpan said, “Pak has finally made it official. It has disclosed in its National Assembly that more than 5,000 Pakistani beggars have been deported from various countries since 2024. It appears as if panhandling is quite a business in the neighbouring country.”
Mocking the sad state of affairs, a user wrote, “Pakistan has well-funded #Terrorists Training camps and Madrasas to miseducate #students. There are no formal coaching centres for #Beggars though it is #World famous for its begging. One #Pakistani Lady #Doctor was married into a Rich ‘Beggar’ Family and had to join them…”
