Adil Najam
Last year we posted a rather disturbing video that might have been titled the ‘revenge of the cow’; if you did not see it, it may be worth watching again. Our bhains video this year is more docile but equaly though-provoking.
This is a Geo News report from Bakra Mandi, Walton, Lahore. Rs. 10 lakh (Rs. 1,000,000), Rs. 6 lakh (Rs. 600,000) for a cow and the bargaining goes on. “Babar” is a fine specimen for sure – wighing 35 mun, 4 year old, and drinking 10 kilo milk and eating 1o kilo of fodder a day it is being offered for Rs. 10 lakh (Rs. one million).
Is this a story about inflation? Or is it about showing off? And how does it connect with the spirit of sacrifice and sharing that the qurbani is supposed to be about? If the purpose of qurbani is sacrifice and helping the poor might it not be better to just take that money and distribute to the really needed who might find the case more helpful than a fine piece of steak? I understand the importance of ritual in any social and belief system. But the spirit of the ritual should count for more than its mechanics. No?
Apologize for posting comment not related to post, but this is worth a look
http://tinyurl.com/yv4p3t
Adil sb ,
Had our nation been able to understand such things life wud have been far easier for the poor too……….we need to come up with rules for keeping a check on growing population, otherwise we will end up in a bigger mess….
AKD(Aqeel Karim Dadhy) in Karachi is famous for two things. One is Stock business other is buying finest and most most expensive janwars from Mandi and exhibit them before Eid. Visitors not only enjoy the exhibition but FREE food at lunch,tea break and dinner timings.
Holy cow! (no pun intended)
Participation of ordinary citizens in religious festivals has been declining over the years in proportion to the rising cost of living. The rich alone can now perform the costlier rituals like the Qurbani.
The path to Paradise is getting narrower for the impoverished millions who can neither go to the Holy Land nor buy a sacrificial lamb. Only God knows how the great unwashed will be adjudged on the day of reckoning when the rich present themselves with their record of Umra