Govt lays down rules for skin collection but leaves out major actors

Jamaatud Dawa and Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat don’t collect door to door.

KARACHI:

The home department’s meeting on a code of ethics for the collection of sacrificial animal skins this Eid-ul Azha was attended by 22 organisations. But the groups that have been heavily advertising ahead of the religious festival were left out.

The collection of hides becomes an important way for charities to generate funds, which can in some cases last them a year. The numbers are good. A cow’s hide can, for example fetch Rs7,000. The downside, however, is that people and groups fight over the hides in order to get the most. A code of ethics is needed to ensure peace.

One of the organisations that was not invited to the government meeting is the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) whose media coordinator, Nadeem Ahmed, confirmed that their Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation did not attend.

This might not matter, however, as the group says it doesn’t need to go around the city asking for donations door to door, which is when the fighting can erupt. “These hides come from our members who sacrifice animals on an individual basis, as well as in collective sacrifices,” explained Ahmed. They advertise, receive calls from people who would like to donate and dispatch someone to pick up the hides.

This year their plan is to channel these donations to the flood survivors, as announced by JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in a recent speech to people in Badin. Saeed even directed JuD leaders to spend Eid-ul Azha in the flood-hit areas. The home department feels, according to its consultant Sharifuddin Memon, that the code of ethics will ensure that banned organisations will not be allowed to collect animal skins throughout the holiday.  This has not, however, stopped the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) - which was banned in 2002 and now goes by the name Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) - from advertising online, asking for donations. On Twitter, the SSP has not just asked for donations but also taken the liberty to urge people not to participate in collective sacrifices with members of another sect.

A spokesperson told The Express Tribune that they do not have an organised system of collecting animal skins but supporters may donate to the families of ASWJ workers who have been killed. They were not invited to the home department meeting either.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2011.