This year Eid in Lahore was not celebrated with traditional enthusiasm and fervour. It reminded us of the unprecedented cyclone, which killed over 200,000 people in East Pakistan, which was then the eastern wing of the united Pakistan.
The exodus of a large number of people of Lahore towards the quake stricken areas and to the rural hinterland of the province also contributed to the usual festivities.

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Cultural activities during the week under review were at the lowest ebb due to the gruesome tragedy of October 8 and the long four-day weekend. Only a few theatres in the city continued their presentations albeit in a low key. The grimness of October 8 catastrophe becomes clearer when compared with the deadliest recorded earthquake in the sub-continent, the 7.7 monster that devastated Quetta and surrounding areas on May 31,1935, which killed nearly 50,000 people.
The November 1970 cyclone and its consequences were once again recalled after the devastating earthquake, which shook Azad Jammu & Kashmir and the Hazara division of NWFP after 35 years of the unprecedented tragedy in East Pakistan. There were no rushes on city roads this year and Eid shopping did not pick up in the traditional manner. In the city markets shopkeepers waited for the customers to purchase their wares.
Only a few came. Very people were seen queuing at cinema houses in Lahore as Eid this year was quite different as it came in the wake of the worst tragedy that killed over 75,000 and maimed over 130,000 people and rendered over three million homeless.
Tears-soaked Eid this year was not celebrated but observed as the nation could not overcome the grief that followed the tragedy. There was, however, no dearth of publicity mongers in the city, who did not let any opportunity go by when they got their photographs taken and published in the newspapers.
They belonged mostly to political parties of different hues and colours, and officials from NGOs and bureaucrats, who were in one way or the others, involved in relief and rehabilitation activities for the quake-affected victims. They seemed more interested in getting their photographs published and less in relief activities.
This aspect of relief activities was taken note of by sober elements in our society, who protested against the strong proclivity of publicity-mongers for one-upmanship and for stealing a march over others in this shameful act of self-projection.
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A large number of artistes during the week under review remained busy in collecting funds and relief goods by using different devices, including walks and appearances on the mini screen. Some of them visited the quake-affected areas and spent Eid day with their unfortunate brethren in the mountainous regions.
Another sad news, which created a pall of gloom on the literary scene in Lahore, was related to the death of renowned Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam, who passed away on October 31 in New Delhi at the age of 86. A doyen of Punjabi literature, who was known for her defiance and fight against fossilised traditions and taboos, was born in Gujranwala on August 31, 1919 as the only child of a Sikh school teacher/poet.
She was one of those literati whose literary genius emerged as a consequence of some traumatic event in their lives. That event in the life of Amrita Pritam was the political division of India (and Punjab) and its consequential killings, loot and plunder, and the mass exchange of population (involving over ten million people) ever witnessed in human history. She moved to India along with her family in August 1947.
The extent of violence committed against the Muslims in East Punjab and the non Muslims on this side of the Wagha border she witnessed during her journey left a strong and indelible impression on heart and soul, which formed the substance of a large portion of her work. Her monumental works comprise 24 novels, 15 collections of short stories and 23 volumes of poems. She often wrote on the condition of women and her writings reflected their neglect and suppression in society.
Good news for theater goers in the province! It has been given to understand by the provincial Home Department in Lahore this past week that the Punjab government has granted permission to two out of the six banned theatres to carry on with their cultural programs. The owners of these theatres had filed application against the cancellation of their licenses and for grant of temporary permission on Eid.