RAWALPINDI, Dec 20: The ongoing electioneering activities have overshadowed the Eidul Azha festivities. People in the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad seem to have forgotten the great festival of sacrifice and instead of worrying about the outcome of the boycott crisis or choosing the candidate they would vote for, they had better be looking for a suitable ram or cow for the sacred ritual.
As it is the active supporters of the various candidates who have jumped into the election arena and started canvassing and busy in holding corner meetings while herds of sheep and goats pass by unnoticed on their way to the markets set up for the sale of sacrificial animals.
During normal years this used to be the time when all that the people would be discussing was the high prices herders were demanding for a ram or bull.
Even Jamaat-i-Islami which normally starts its campaign for collecting animal hides at least a month ahead of the Eid has laid no claim to its share in the donation. Its boycott looks like covering more than just the elections.
Almost all the signboards in the twin cities, particularly Rawalpindi, have been booked by political leaders for their publicity and it is hard to find even a single advertisement of any welfare organisation, madressah or NGO appealing for donation of animal hides.
The festivities peculiar to the Eid of the sacrifice have all been dumped behind the massive signboards with electric lights and neon signs blinking around garish smiles of election candidates with attractive party slogans and a virtual jungle of party flags raised from buildings and electric poles.
Major animal fairs like Bakra Mandi, Raja Bazaar, Lalazar and other places give a deserted look with cattle herders cursing the election activities for likely losses if customers do not turn up in time and they have to trek back to the villages with unsold starving animals.
Ali Abbas, a herdsman told this reporter that lack of public interest in the sacrificial ceremony has already caused him much loss in terms of feeding the three rams he had brought to mandi and who must be protected from the cold under a proper shed.
Larger herds than his are more worried because the animals have to be fed well to keep them in good shape if they are to fetch a good price.
Each day that passes increases the cost of the animal as the herdsmen themselves have to spend a lot on their own boarding and lodging in addition to buying fodder and providing night shelter to the sacrificial herd.
The growing trend of joint sacrifice (Ijtimai Qurbani) and the practice of paying cash to organizations like Eidhi and the Jamaat who undertake to perform the sacrifice on behalf of the people has also affected the sale of animals. On top of that the the sacred ritual of sacrifice seems farthest from the mind of political parties and their candidates.