Behind the cheerful facades, our people live with sadness and tragedy in their hearts. To our unmitigated chagrin, our compatriots fell victim of a terrorist act 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. Moreover, the incident also touched all their compatriots and embittered them deeply. Celebrating Eid with the red color of human blood is the saddest story I have ever seen in my life. Blood oozing from the wounds of innocent civilians in a Holy Mosque will move all human beings to the verge of tears, except those who are alienated from human feelings.
In this article, I will focus on the two challenges, insecurity and poverty, which are always prominent across the country and were also displayed on the day of Eid. Unfortunately, our country has been afflicted by the two chronic problems throughout history. On the one hand, the bloodshed of war and on the other hand the cruelty of poverty, have both crippled the economic and political structures of the country. Furthermore, these twin problems have led to a variety of crime, and corruption is rampant.
The bestial attitude of Islamic 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 human feelings in the Taliban-led insurgents. Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679), an English philosopher, says very truly: “Man is a wolf to [his fellow] man,” which can be interpreted to mean that man preys upon man. In addition, he saw human beings as essentially machines, with even their thoughts and emotions operating according to physical laws and chains of cause and effect, action and reaction. As machines, human beings pursue their own self-interest relentlessly, mechanically avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure. Anyhow, the cruel acts of the insurgents reflect accurately the words of Hobbes.
It is, indeed, a matter of great concern that hate crime is committed against innocent civilians, including women and children, not only in Afghanistan but also in many other geographical parts of the world such as Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, etc. Terrorists have turned into an international menace terrorizing all the people on the earth. Moreover, it is a matter of great surprise that the Taliban militants who claim to be religious and the very followers of Islamic laws, murder some other mullahs and also break the holiness of Mosques and Churches by shedding the blood of worshipers. Even though Taliban have put on the mask of Islam, labeling their terrorist acts as Jihad and as an Islamic obligation, the veneer of virtue can never conceal their sinister face and anti-Islamic actions. Islam neither allows the killing of children and women nor other innocent civilians; it upholds the holiness of sacred places. 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 criminals who violate Islamic Sharia and have to be given the maximum penalty.
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. I remember when I was in Daikundi Province last year; I and a friend of mine took a walk in a village out of curiosity to see how people celebrate their Eid. We could hardly see people outside. Finally, we saw an old man and woman walking in a deserted area. We asked them if it was Eid that day. They glanced at us coldly and with a tinge of surprise murmuring that they did not know about Eid. We were surprised and concluded that there are people who live in slums not caring about Eid at all. Moreover, they were busy with their usual daily activities. In other words, the shepherds took the cattle for graze, the farmers went for harvesting grass and some went for brining bush to the mountains. Hence, the silence of the villages was barely broken by the feeble footsteps of the old men and women. This picture of the village touched us deeply.
Indeed, we saw a high wall of mistrust between the village and the government. The support of the government was entirely cut off from that village as if it was not a part of this country. 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.