Kozhikode: Yes, Kerala is in the grip of floods, Malabar is the worst hit and thousands are in relief camps. However, the Muslims will celebrate Id-al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, with the spirit of sacrifice. And relief camps would see people from all faiths celebrating Id together.
“We are happy here and will celebrate this year’s Id with other communities,” said Jameela at the relief camp at IHRD College at Thiruthiyad, Kozhik-ode. “I would be more happy in the camp than my family spending the day alone in flood-ravaged environs,” added her husband, Shams-udheen. “Tomorrow we will have a special chicken biryani at noon. We will enjoy it with other community members.” “Thanks to Allah we are alive, and it is time we will celebrate Id with all here in the camp,” said Basheer of Rinsha Mahal, Pappangadi, Koyilandy.
Basheer and family are in the camp for the last two days. “Tomorrow we will go to the mosque for prayer and return for the celebration at the camp,” he said.
Not only in Thiruthiyad, but all the relief camps in the Malabar region are on with special Id celebration programmes.
At Peruvayal near Mavoor in Kozhikode the camp would be closed with the cultural programme and biriy-ani, as the water receded while at the Governm-ent Higher Secondary School, Meenangadi, though the number of Muslim community members is very less, the camp would celebrate Id with various cultural programmes.
As Syed Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal, the leader of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) who is also a spiritual leader, puts it, the Id this year will be celebrated by the entire affected population in relief camps cutting across religious barriers and the Muslim brothers would share the spirit and festivities with other community members.
The Thangal told Deccan Chronicle that the IUML had already passed the message to the lower rungs to support the camps, transforming them into venues of celebration.
Noted Islamic scholar Hussein Madavoor said that with the relief work going on the community should spread the message of Id- sacrifice and universal brotherhood.
However, U.V. Jose, special officer for coordinating relief works for Wayanad district, told DC that the present plan is to distribute provisions for the celebration to the camps from the centralised relief material store in each taluk. “The decision for the celebration should come from the camp as the government has no plans on it,” he said. “We will not encourage bringing food for distribution in camps as if anything went wrong, the entire system would be affected.”
The scene in Kochi is a bit different. “We won’t be able to greet others with Eid Mubarak in a situation when we are all suffering from the worst incidents,” Rahi-ma Mohammed of Eloor said. “It is not a day to celebrate, it is a day to pray.”
An inmate in a relief camp in Pathalam said they will be conducting prayers all the day for the people who have died and those who sacrificed their lives in the floods. “This is the festival of the sacrifice,” she said. “We will be holding prayers for the worst affected in northern parts of the state along with the ordinary customs with no other celebrations.”
(With input from Aravind Rajeev in Kochi)
