Nation celebrated Eid with solemnity, simplicity in Pakistan
PakistanTimes.net Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated all over the country Friday with solemnity and simplicity to show solidarity with survivors of October-8 earthquake.

The faithful thronged to Eidgahs, mosques and other open places to offer prayers and seek Allah Almighty’s blessings and assistance for early recovery of earthquake affected people in Azad Kashmir and NWFP.

Special prayers were offered for the country’s prosperity and solidarity as followers of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) bow before Almighty Allah seeking forgiveness for their sins.

People attended the Eid congregations in large number to revive the great principles of Islamic brotherhood and fraternity.

Significance of the Event

The ulema and khateebs highlighted the importance of Ramazan-ul-Mubarak in their sermons during the Eid congregations. They also offered prayers for the departed souls and for the early recovery and rehabilitation of those who were injured or displaced owing to earthquake.

In their speeches, the khateebs also eulogised the services of the government for taking timely relief and rescue operations for the quake affectees. They called upon the people to extend maximum help in all form so that the aid is continuously dispatched to the affected areas.

Special prayers were also offered that the country remains safe from any further natural disaster.

President General Pervez Musharraf offered the Eid prayer at Army Stadium Rawalpindi where special prayers were offered for recovery of quake-hit people. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz offered the Eid prayer at tentage village set up at Sector H-11 to express solidarity and show sympathies with survivors of earthquake.

The biggest Eid congregation in the federal capital was held at Faisal Mosque where a large number of people offered Eid prayers. The largest congregations of Eid in Rawalpindi were held at Liaqat Bagh, Jamia Mosque, Central Eidgah and Army Stadium Ground.

Security

The security has been beefed up in federal capital and Rawalpindi to avoid any untoward incident on Eid-ul-Fitr. The law enforcing agencies are working under a comprehensive security plan chalked up for Eid holidays.

Heavy contingents of the police have been deployed at sensitive areas, worship places and busy markets besides deputing special patrolling teams on Eid days.

Eid prayers in Quake-hit Areas

The survivors of October-8 tragedies here and in Balakot offered their Eid prayers with heavy hearts, but showing an exemplary determination and courage.

Major congregations were held at Jama Masjid Shuda-i-Ahle-e-Hadis in Balakot and police line ground in Muzaffarabad besides all other mosques, where faithful with saddened hearts and tearful eyes prayed in large numbers for the salvation of those who had perished in the catastrophic earthquake, early recoveries of the injured and solace to the bereaved.

The congregations this year depicted unprecedented scenes when following prayers the faithful while traditionally embracing were seen condoling each other’s loss of lives and properties, as each had some painful memories deep down their hearts, which spontaneously burst out while Eid embracing.

“This tragedy has thrown a great challenge to us and we would be striving hard not only to overcome it but excel in the test by making a beginning of a new life out of this devastation.

Little Joy

Quake survivors gathered on straw mats in debris-strewn fields to pray and somberly mark a normally joyous Muslim festival.

Earlier in Muzaffarabad, the faithful gathered in a field surrounded by smashed concrete as the helicopters of aid workers buzzed overhead in efforts to deliver much-needed aid ahead of the Himalayan region's fierce winter.

"God is testing us, testing our patience, testing our faith," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest religious political party, told a crowd of more than 1,000 men. "One of the main reasons for the earthquake was our wrongdoing."

For most of Pakistan, Friday was the start of the Eid al-Fitr celebration marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, but Musharraf asked Pakistanis to tone down festivities out of respect for quake victims.

Zubair Abbasi, 24, an economics student before his university in Muzaffarabad was destroyed, said he would spend the day visiting orphans, instead of the normal Eid routine of feasting and distributing gifts among family and friends. "Usually we celebrate very happily but this time we are very sad. Houses have collapsed and people are dead," he said.●