Dearth of enjoyment: Locals throng Gor Gathri festival, Sardaryab during holidays

Say they need entertainment spots for time out with families on Eid

PESHAWAR: Locals had very few places to head to on Eidul Fitr as they said the city does not have many picnic spots to offer. The only entertainment seemed to be the lone Eid festival arranged in Gor Gathri.

The festival started on Wednesday and concluded on Friday, the third day of Eid for many in the city.

In addition to the festival, locals could visit Sardaryab, the picnic spot on the bank of Kabul River. It is situated 20 kilometres from the city that is reached through Charsadda Road. Since people visited the site there on the third day of Eid, the thoroughfare was clogged with vehicles.

Zeeshan Khan, a local, said while talking to The Express Tribune the government should open up avenues so that people could go out to enjoy with their families on occasions such as Eid.

After years

However, people in K-P believed Eid this time was different than that in the preceding years as it was celebrated on the same day across the country. They said it was a relief especially for those working away from their hometowns.

On the other hand, some of the Afghan refugees also celebrated Eid with the rest of the Pakistanis. In the past years, Afghanistan used to celebrate Eid with Saudi Arabia and Afghan refugees used to follow suit.



While talking to The Express Tribune, Khan Baz, an Afghan refugee, said he was happy to celebrate Eid with his Pakistani brothers and sisters. Baz was living in Hayatabad for the past 15 years. He added it was disturbing for him to celebrate Eid on the day his neighbours were fasting. “How could we celebrate Eid when our neighbour is fasting,” he said. He added this year the entire town celebrated the occasion with the sense of unity. Many Afghan families exchanged meals and sweets with locals which, he said, seldom happened.

Communal Eid prayers were arranged in major mosques of the city, including Sunehri Masjid, Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, Darvesh Masjid, Zarghoni Masjid and Speen Jumat.

A large number of women also offered Eid prayers in Peshawar's Sunehri and Zarghoni mosques as special arrangements were made there for them.

In the past, much controversy has surrounded moon sighting in K-P. The local moon sighting committee led by Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, sits prior to the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee every year. For many years, Ramazan and Eid have been observed in parts of the province a day before the rest of the county, based on the announcements made by Popalzai.

Even though the issue was almost resolved this time, people in the province still demand proper measures to address the moon sighting controversy.

Ahmad Ali, who works for a not-for-profit organisation, said he had been facing confusion over Eid celebrations for past five years because of the two different moon sighting announcements. He said his organisation used to observe Eid break as per the federal government’s announcement and he had to work at office when Eid was celebrated in his hometown. He added the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee must consult Popalzai’s committee every year so that Eid is observed on the same day throughout the country.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said expressed satisfaction over Eid celebration on the same day across the country. He said the country in general and K-P in particular is facing various challenges and that we must not fight over issues such as moon sighting. He also said Muslim countries need to unite and that such acts of religious unity must continue in future as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2016.