Qurbani Aftermath

It is almost a week now that the faithful offered Qurbani all over Pakistan with great devotion, zeal and passion but also in the process literally littered the surroundings profusely with the innards and entrails, offals and intestines of the sacrificed rams, goats, cows, bulls and camels, some of which still “adorn” certain streets, roads, parks and nullahs sending nauseating whiffs and puffs of the stinking stench and foul odors to the passers by and the hapless residents living around. These sites also offer breeding ground for the contagious diseases at an epidemic scale.  Ironically, each and every citizen and media man blames the municipalities for not collecting the foul waste and disposing it off elsewhere but  not one of them  repeat one of them  blames himself for causing such a sorry state of affairs in the first instance by dumping the entrails in the open. Did ANYONE in Pakistan pack such waste in some paper bag and place it in ! a garbage bin to be taken away by the Municipal garbage vehicle?  I think, not.  Where is our oft quoted Hadees, “Safai Nisf Eeman” and why don’t we act upon it? Did any Khateeb, Aalim, Charity Organisation,  NGO etc. etc. appealing ardently for the donation of the skins also announce it from the pulpit to dispose off properly such animal waste?  Again, I think, not.

We have been offering Qurbani for centuries and have yet to learn the basic rudimentaries of such civic sense.  I would, therefore, propose that all sacrificial animals be slaughtered in proper Govt. abattoirs centrally in future.  The slaughter house could allot the time of the sacrifice and pack the dressed meat according to the individual’s requirement.  And all for a nominal charge too.  The proper acceptable procedure to follow could be worked out by the govt. administration and the Ulema jointly. It will save the faithfuls lots of logistic hassle apart from  offering them a the neat and clean manner of offering Qurbani, without dumping the sacrificial waste out in the open to rot for days. It is nothing new and is being done in Europe, Americas, Canada, Japan and most of the world. Incidentally, it has the Islamic sanctions also, for, it is being done during the Hajj since many years.

Col.Riaz Jafri (Retd)