Coming in the midst of the horrendous aftermath of an unprecedented natural calamity, the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Earthquake Relief, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation, at its meeting last Saturday, to observe Eid-ul-Fitr in a sober and solemn manner, will have its special appeal to many among those intrigued by the traditional fervour with which preparations appear to have started for the forthcoming festival.
Eid-related buying has lately started gaining momentum, at least, in urban centres far removed for the earthquake-hit areas. This is not to say that the people in these places have remained apathetic to the tragedy engulfing the massively destroyed parts of the country.
For the fact remains that traumatic has been reaction in large cities, Karachi in particular. Nevertheless, instantly recovering from the initial shock, individuals and organisations lost no time in launching relief efforts for the earthquake victims.
Response to appeals made by the government and civil society organisations was as unprecedented as the ravages of the calamity. Hastily put up camps for collection of donations, in cash and kind, with spirited SOS appeals over loud speakers, to the people to contribute their mite bear ample testimony to their compassion.
It will be noted that caught unprepared, though, for such an eventuality, the people of Karachi, from every strata of life, contributed the most. The same trend was visible in smaller cities and towns, too. Little wonder, the randomly pooled relief goods, along with speedy arrivals from elsewhere in the world, later obstructed their delivery to the worst affected areas to the increasing detriment of the needy.
The enthusiasm of the people, as aroused simultaneously from a sense of charity and humanitarianism, as also from Islamic teachings culminated in reviving a true national spirit which had remained shattered too long from other divisive thrusts.
What is all the more notable about the revival of that spirit is the response to later appeal for donation of specified items, including tents, blankets, food and medicines, which were found to have fallen short. All this put together, will undoubtedly point to the fact that the mountain-shaking calamity has proved instrumental in galvanising the nation with unity of thought and action, like a similar outburst of true national spirit way back in 1965, when it was suddenly sparked into nation-wide awakening.
Now that with the fasting month of Ramazan drawing to its end, the excitement for preparing for Eid, can be attributed to a traditional approach, seemingly dominated by a religious urge, which has always been a driving force behind extravagant Eid shopping. Understandable, as such, should be the increasing rush at shopping malls, with relief camps outside them blaring forthwith appeals for donations for the earthquake hit areas.
Viewed in this perspective, the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Earthquake Relief, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation for observing Eid with simplicity, though making sense, will appear to have left much to be desired. Perhaps, the Prime Minister, who presided over the meeting, would have done well to make a call for austerity and simplicity, in the name of greater contribution towards the relief and rehabilitation of the quake victims.