It’s a great work done by the Sharjah Police to arrest 119 beggars. Begging is a crime in the United Arab Emirates (“Sharjah Police arrest 119 beggars during Ramadan,” April 7, Gulf Today website).

According to the report, the Sharjah Police arrested 119 beggars, including 109 males and 10 females, as part of the campaign launched by the Media and Public Relations Department in cooperation with the Anti-Beggary Committee, under the slogan “Begging is a crime and giving is a responsibility,” at the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Brigadier General Arif Bin Hudaib, Director of the Media and Public Relations Department, stated that the total amount of money found with the beggars since the beginning of Ramadan exceeded Dhs33,000.

Begging has become a business. Handlers behind the hideous act are the real criminals who benefit from it, using needy people as beggars in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Crackdown on beggars is vital, but action should be taken against the handlers of beggar groups who are using these people from the developing countries, arranging their visas, providing them a place to live in the UAE and bearing their travel expenses.

It’s also the social responsibility of all the residents of the UAE to follow the state’s policy and cooperate in the Sharjah Police anti-beggary campaign, under the slogan “Begging is a crime and giving is a responsibility,”

I hope people will fully join hands with the ongoing campaign and discourage this anti-Islamic practice.

Jahandad Khan, By email