THIS year the Eidul Fitr festival has come amid a rather grim scenario. With thousands of innocent lives having been lost in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere, it is understandable that the mood is largely that of observance of the festival rather than its celebration.

And, yet, I found a lot of people going about their business of life as if nothing wrong was happening anywhere. One could see shopping malls overcrowded with people almost frantically trying to grab the best clothes for themselves and their children.

After shopping, many enjoyed lavish Iftar and dinner. All this while, the United States and Israel continued to bomb unarmed civilians — men, women and children — in Iran, our next-door neighbour and a country we call ‘our Islamic brother’. So savage has been this belligerence that even a school was bombed, killing 164 teenage girls.

I failed to understand how, after seeing such massacres on our television screens, people could still go to Iftar parties or shop for celebrations. How could a human being become so insensitive? We could have shown some compassion, some sense of humanity, but we chose not to, which in many ways is a tragedy bigger than the tragedies in Iran, Gaza and Lebanon.

Today, when thousands of innocent lives are being lost, is it not an insult to humanity to celebrate a festival with new clothes and lavish parties? The heavens would not fall if people put on hold their celebrations out of respect for the dead and the wounded in the ongoing madness of war. After all, as human beings, it is our moral duty to stand with fellow humans in their grief, sorrow and anguish.

When the 2004 tsunami had devastated Indonesia and neighbouring regions, New Year celebrations around the world were cancelled as a mark of respect for the dead and injured. We should have considered such a step, but we chose not to. In these testing times, this was the least we could have done for those who continue to face suffering and aggression, but the rush in the markets suggested we chose not to.

Aamir Aqil
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026