LAHORE: Eid-ul-Azha, to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of Prophet Hazrat Ibrahim (AS), who agreed to sacrifice his son Prophet Ismail (AS) on Allah’s command, is being celebrated by the Muslims with religious fervor on Wednesday (today) across the country like other parts of the Muslim World amid Coronavirus pandemic.
The day will dawn with special prayers in mosques for well-being of the Ummah and progress, prosperity and security of the country.
Eid congregations will be held in mosques, Eidgahs and open places in all cities, towns and villages across the country with adherence to all SOPs of Covid-19. In their sermons, Ulema and Khateebs would highlight significance of the day and philosophy of the sacrifice.
Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar, Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif will celebrate Eid in Lahore.
After the Eid prayers, the faithful will slaughter their sacrificial animals in remembrance of Sunnat-e Ibrahimi. The sunnah of sacrifice of animals will continue by the faithful till Friday.
Newspapers will bring out special supplements while radio and TV channels will present special programmes.
The Civic agencies and law enforcing agencies have made arrangements for cleanliness and law and order on the occasion.
The government has announced three holidays from July 21 to 23. The routine working in government offices will resume on Monday, as the employees got leave of Friday.
The Punjab Chief Minister in his message on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha stressed upon the people to share happiness with the impecunious strata because extending joys and ease to the disadvantaged segments is the real message of this Eid.
The people should fully observe precautions to remain safe from this virus; he stressed and asked them to promote the passions of love and affection in the society while setting aside all differences. He also paid rich tributes to the brave security officials for laying their lives in the line of duty. Meanwhile, the oppressed Kashmiris are celebrating Eid in an environment of oppression and brutality as the Hindu supremacist Modi regime has deprived them of all joys. The Pakistanis firmly stand with their Kashmiri brethren and express complete solidarity with them, he added.
Moreover, the CM has directed that solid waste management companies and local government institutions to ensure zero-waste management on Eid-ul-Azha and animals’ offal and other waste be properly disposed of. The best cleanliness arrangements should be made across provinces and commissioners and district commissioners should monitor the arrangements, he added.
Announcing to personally review the situation of cleanliness on Eid, the CM said that no leniency will be tolerated. The citizens’ complaints should be timely resolved, as line departments are duty-bound to provide a clean atmosphere to the citizens, he stressed.
The CM has also directed to maintain foolproof security arrangements on Eid-ul-Azha, adding that the security of Eid congregations be fully ensured.
The CM made it clear that Coronavirus SOPs violations will not be tolerated in cattle markets and directed to take action in case of dereliction of duty. Similarly, best cleanliness arrangements are ensured in cattle markets while ensuring smooth flow of traffic around such areas.
Usman Buzdar also appealed to the people to celebrate Eid-ul–Azha with simplicity while observing corona SOPs. He reiterated to maintain social distancing in the public along with vaccination as people should be very careful to remain safe from the fourth corona wave. The people can remain safe from this virus by observing SOPs during Eid holidays and the situation can lead to strict measures if precautions are not observed, the CM concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021