By Nasira Jabeen ‘So you have had your Eid then’, is an often expressed interjection, addressed to one who happened to have gone through moments of felicity – resulting from any of the many causes for feeling happy, composed and content and blessed. And when the actual Eid day’s happy note is stroked on its arrival, it is feted warmly by some and some stern souls stay off the merriment and bliss only to bitter its taste to others for reasons known to them. Though it’s been quite long since Eid-ul-Azha , I want the worthy readers to give this a minute’s reckoning too to help it perish from my thought that why especially on Eid eve, a series of attacks rocked the country claiming numerous lives , why so ardent they were in the pursuit they follow, why so intent upon vicious plans, why they are devoid of that sensitive faculty: the mercy, why so iron-true to their chiefs that they are completely unconscious of the approach of an Eid day; that they are totally indifferent to its glee and blessings and oblivious to its soothing comfort. Why it’s not a different day then for them too? Eid, this festival of ours, has its age old association with joy and bliss; rather both have breathed their first breath together. When still a long way off, the remembrance of it in every mind, the quiet pursuit of it in thoughts; when around the corner the evident preparations for it , all in themselves are inviting and carry with them the happy anticipation of a more delightful Eid. When eventually this most fancied day arrives, the different air of the household: from the voices calling for necessaries to the pace with which they are met, from the all bright look within to the swept clean yard and far stretched path without, from the cookery to its serving (to guests today to render their visit the more agreeable), and from the dress up to the grooming, all are voluble enough in their presentation of the day as variant from the list of subsequent days. Though, if observed narrowly, it is the same day as all: with the same rays of the sun alighting on the ’poor’s hut’ and the ‘sultan’s turret’ alike, with approximately, the same time of its peeping out from the horizon and burying behind the opposite side after taking the same length of the day; yet it is always the consideration of the afore mentioned sweet engagements that mark it a different day. It’s in the pleasant frame of mind and the beaming faces on the day; in the greetings and the well wishes to each other, in the offering and receiving (of all the goodies that one expects) , that the delight of Eid find a vent. To some it may sound a boring day. But then there are its rooting too: either the disposition of the persons in question stands in the way (for the hustle and bustle of the day when not quite accord with their phlegmatic, self-satisfied and introspective self), or when some exhibit a poor taste in their dressing as against others whom they admire or against those whom they wish to leave dim and distant in the background in the bold glare of their own appearance, or when it is unaffordable for some to arrange it in as pompous a way as others or when they are required to wear an old suit and when they are delicate enough to sense and feel it. But these section of people with their eccentricities apart, to the rest of all, Eid opens an illimitable region of joy and delight. From the humdrum and mundane existence, an employment that is both diverting and interesting is a fresh breath of air indeed. But can one allow their good self to believe the ruthless and cruel treatment of this sacred a festival on the part of some sublime creatures of God who are bound to celebrate it as respectably as others; being tied by the same knot of Islam? Yes one must believe it and must call up all one’s fortitude to try to bear it. I wonder these every variety of jihadist fighters know no festival or any special day like Eid? For in this recently bygone Eid (in the very first day of it) we witnessed their fresh atrocity when they cruelly done away with a law minister of KPK, and several others in their much cherished suicide bomb. Is it not a different day then for them too, one is compelled to think. Is it not a day of blessing, a day of happy home coming for them too? Why they are stone-deaf to its merry calling? These interrogations call up certain deliberations to mind too; which may in their due, stand in the way of melting the cries and bereavements of the horrendous named militants making, into a softened distance. (Though nothing on earth would perfectly soften them) What such bitter thing has gone into the making of the rebellious, defiant, fearless and ruthless of men as them? Is it the government’s folly, their uni-dimensional take on terrorism issue, their weird and uncertain behaviour, the unhinged and confused situations from the leading parties side as to the tackling of any grave issue (to the greater bafflement of the world) leading to the lop sided image of Pakistan that these jihadist find it too hard to comply with and want to exhibit the image in their version framed by their principles? (But at the cost of precious lives; leaving their ‘to-be state’ with pitiful man power is beyond a sane thought) Or is it a negligence and indifference and absence of civilian ownership as utter as to turn them rebellious to the extent that they no longer wish to spare their own lives in their swear of vengeance? Or is it the absence of a reliable counter terrorism policy and lack of leadership on the state’s part for war on terror that has given them such a bold an edge? They are much willing to go as a suicide bomber for genocide to get them endeared as an epitome of the conviction they underwent. Mysterious souls they are; nay tough and daunting. How could they let themselves be so actuated as to ruthlessly reduce God’s signs and manifestations on earth being one of them themselves too? And how these stubborn of men could be dealt with when there are thousands and thousands of them and when they are too ready to hold on to their unenviable of jobs? Making them bound to the honour of Eid seems next to impossible. ]]>
