Wishing a happy Eidul Azha to the faithful

By Afzal Hussain Bokhari

With colourful strings of beads thrown around their necks, the well-fed goats and cows seemed perfect specimens of symmetry and smartness. However, the motorists who slowed down to have a look at the variety of sacrificial animals were not quite amused at the prohibitive range of prices initially demanded by the farmers that carted them to various makeshift markets in and around the City days before the arrival of Eidul Azha. With their kitchens long devoid of the smell of cooked meat, the inflation-hit pedestrians did not bother to pause and turn around to see the expensive livestock that have become part and parcel of the biggest annual Islamic festival.

Slipping down the line of poverty, the breadwinners in the low income group wondered if it was still possible to decently perform the age-old 'Sunnat-i-Ibrahimi'.

Not long ago, there was a time when butchers used to feel the presence of sacrificial animals in great numbers all over the City and, with shutters pulled down upon them, the meat shops closed at least a week before the festival.

In November 2011, the comparative scarcity of animals and the lack of purchasing power forced the meat shops to stay open for small-time customers up to Sunday afternoon, the 9th of Zilhajja. Onions, tomatoes and green chilies usually have a greater demand on Eidul Azha.

Green grocers, therefore, have a heyday and sell these items at arbitrary prices on this occasion.

Congregational Eid prayers have all along been the topmost priority of both the young and the old, liberal and the conservative, shrewd and the naïve. However, after incidents of violence and terrorism, the citizenry has so to speak staggered its priorities.

Sight of gunmen guarding the mosques and the worshippers is comparatively a new phenomenon. Eidgah on Charsadda Road and Bagh-i-Naran in Hayatabad have hosted record crowds of practising Muslims but the mosque near Company Bagh now Khalid bin Walid Garden in the Cantonment has recently emerged as the most favourite place in terms of safety and protection.

Familiar figures from top echelons of provincial bureaucracy offer the prayers on the lawns of the Governor's House along with the chief executive of the KP. Places which draw crowds of common worshippers include Masjid Mahabat Khan, Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, Spin Jumaat, Masjid Koocha Risaldar, Zarghooni Masjid (Phase Two) and the Asna Ashri Mosque (Phase 5) in Hayatabad.

According to the sighting of the moon, Eid was celebrated on Sunday in the Gulf States, Far East, Europe and America. Like they have been doing for the last 31 years, the Afghan refugees with high business stakes in Peshawar once again celebrated Eid a day ahead of their Pakistani hosts.

Blood oozed out of the main gates of their houses in Phase-1 of Hayatabad as the Afghan enthusiasts slaughtered sacrificial animals.

Radio Pakistan, PTV and news channels of various private television networks treated the viewers to live coverage of Hajj from Saudi Arabia.

More than 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world converged on Makkah to perform the pilgrimage.

TV channels stopped their regular transmissions to show how the 20 million-riyal huge silk cover of the holy Kaaba was being replaced on Saturday. Satellite television beamed into homes the images of the intending pilgrims doing various rituals.

For instance, men bowed before barbers to get their heads shaven by battery operated machines.

A number of college and university students as well as government employees belonging to remote areas like Dir, Chitral and Hangu had a passion to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones back home.

However, it was easier said than done as far as this emotional journey was concerned.

As they normally do before the Eidul Azha and Eidul Fitr rush of passengers, the operators of public transport vans in and around the General Bus Stand resort to overloading and overcharging of passengers.

Most of the drivers belong to the City's suburban rural belt and naturally take leave and go home to make sure that the kitchen stove burns.

As always, the pre-Eid crime scene in City has been shocking.

Just days before Eid, anti-social elements immediately after sundown descended on Sector 'J' near Zahid Market in Phase-2 of Hayatabad and fought a pitched gun battle with police up to 1-30am.

Some of the bullets hit the main gates of the houses in which two college teachers, a doctor and two retired newsmen lived. Eyewitnesses said that the anti-social elements broke through the boundary wall separating village Achini and Phase-2.

Local guards said that these elements routinely roamed the streets leading to Zahid Market and at gunpoint snatched cell phones and cash from the residents even in front of their doors.

Surprisingly enough, the print and electronic media did not say a word about the incident the following day.

Hordes of beggars, both male and female, of all ages have arrived in City. They pester the shoppers in main markets and create hurdles in the smooth flow of vehicular traffic especially in busy squares.

Insiders allege that crowded squares like the one near East Cantonment (Sharqi) police station have been handed over on contract to the begging mafia.

The members of the mafia closely monitor the movement of the child beggars and physically beat them up if they allow a car to proceed without seeking alms from the inmates by knocking the windscreen submissively. While begging in the Saddar area they get beaten up by police and shopkeepers for stealing whatever items they can lay their hands on. So by and large, Eidul Azha is a mix of social contradictions.

Those steeply grounded in the history, culture and philosophy of Islamic rituals were vaguely reminded of the lines from poetry of Allama Iqbal: "Ghareeb-o-sada-o-dilkash hai Dastaan-i-Haramm; Nihayet is ki Hussain, ibteda hai Ismaeel"!

Nowhere in Urdu poetry has the philosophy of sacrifice been described so gracefully as in the above lines of the poet of the East.