Eid-ul-Azha was celebrated with usual enthusiasm and religious fervour in Sialkot, Daska, Pasrur, Zafarwal, Sambrial and Ugoki areas of Sialkot district on Wednesday. Eid prayers were offered at mosques and other places in the city and other parts of the district. On the occasion, special prayers were offered for unity, prosperity and solidarity in the country as well as early liberation of Indian held Kashmir.
Strict security measures were adopted by the administration for maintaining law and order in the fdistrict. Similar traffic arrangements were made for ensuring smooth flow of traffic at busy roads of the city.
While addressing Eid congregations, Ulema stressed upon the faithful to mould their lives in accordance with the tenet of Islam and golden teachings of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), the greatest educator of mankind for getting rid of multifarious problems and difficulties. Underscoring need of understanding the philosophy of "Qurbani" (slaughtering animals), they stressed that in order to please Almighty Allah, Eid delights should be shared with poor, orphans, needy persons and widows.
Ulema called upon the faithful that they should shun petty differences to cope with the challenges and threats to Muslim Ummah. The unity of Muslim Ummah at this juncture is direly needed to foil the evil designs of anti-Islamic forces because due to lack of unity, Muslim world has been confronted by multifarious problems and with the passage of time, these problems are multiplying rapidly, they said.
They pointed that it is Islam that protects rights of women and minorities and teaches the lesson of brotherhood, peace and tolerance. It is high time that Muslims forge complete unity among their ranks for coping with the growing threats of violence and terrorism, because Islam has forbidden violence in all its forms. Most of the people, including women and youngsters celebrated Eid with friends and kith and ken in parks, while great rush was also witnessed at bakeries and sweet shops of the city because of closing of restaurants especially 'tikka, seekh kabab' shops on the occasion.
At this Eid also, some butchers were found fleecing the people. People faced serious hardships in purchasing sacrificial animals. Moreover, it was observed that Sialkot was flooded with beggars, a large number of whom was seen in different bazaars, commercial centres as well as posh localities of Sialkot.