Behind the cheerful facades, our people live with sadness and tragedy in their hearts. To our unmitigated chagrin, our compatriots constantly fall victim of terrorist acts, even on the red-letter-day of Eid. The hapless family members of the victims were stricken by deep grief at the tragic death of their dear ones. The incident in Sayed-Shuhada School as well as in a mosque in second day of Eid outraged the public conscience and embittered them deeply. Celebrating Eid with the red color of human blood is the saddest story one has ever seen. Blood oozing from the wounds of innocent civilians in schools and mosques will shake the conscience of every individual, except of those who are alienated from humane feelings.
Afghanistan has been afflicted by the two chronic problems throughout history. Both cruelty and poverty have crippled the economic and political structures of the country.
The bestial attitude of religious extremists, their violence and voracious appetite for targeting innocent civilians across the country, is at its peak. There is no iota of mercy or tinge of humane feelings among the insurgents. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, aptly said: “Man is a wolf to [his fellow] man,” as man preys upon man. In addition, he sees human beings as essentially machines, with even their thoughts and emotions operating according to physical laws and chains of cause and effect and action and reaction. As machines, human beings pursue their own self-interest relentlessly, mechanically avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure.
Violence against civilians is a matter of great concern, mainly in Afghanistan. Terrorist groups have turned into a global threat. It is highly shocking to see the Taliban militants, who claim to be the very followers of Islamic laws, murder clerics and violate the holiness of mosques, schools and churches by shedding the blood of worshippers and students. Even though the Taliban have put on the mask of religion, labeling their terrorist acts as Jihad, the veneer of virtue can never conceal their sinister face and anti-Islamic actions. Islam upholds the holiness of sacred places and never allows killing civilians. Moreover, slaughtering human beings or killing non-Muslims who live peacefully in Islamic countries is strongly condemned by Islamic law. In addition, metamorphosing Islamic Sharia is the biggest crime that the Islamic extremists are involved in. Therefore, the Taliban-led insurgents are sinful, to view from religious lens, and criminals, from religious point of view, and have to be tried.
Eid was entirely meaningless for some of the families in the country. The mass of beggars were just begrudging the affluent families their fashionable clothes, costly jewelries, modern styles and luxury cars. Furthermore, there are many families who cannot afford new clothes for their children on the gala day of Eid. Many poor fathers are struggling from dawn to dusk to find a morsel of food for their families and can hardly make ends meet. In remote areas, there are people who live in slums and do not care about Eid at all. On Eid Day, they are busy with their usual daily activities. In other words, shepherds take the cattle for graze, farmers go for harvesting grass and some go for brining bush from the mountains. The support of the government is cut off from villages as if the rural live in other territory. Their children walk for two or three hours per day to reach the school located in the central village and the teachers are mostly the students of the same school who can hardly satisfy the needs of the students. Moreover, it is common amongst them that two teachers work in one vacancy and divide the five-thousand-Afs salary per month between each other and mostly the salary is not paid regularly at the end of each month. Furthermore, they are called the lucky people of the society amongst the villagers. It is believed that the real and meaningful Eid for Afghan people is the day when everyone can breathe a sigh of relief in a democratic and secure environment. Likewise, happiness will be meaningful for the people when the breadwinners are not worried about a morsel of food and when people are no more fearful of having their earnings snatched by armed and powerful gangs. Yes, the real days of glee and gladness are the days when sinister faces and ominous goals are not hidden behind the false veneer of virtue and sincerity. The real Eid is the days when the rift between the poor and the rich is repaired and people of all races, religions and sects live peacefully in the country.