As a random day off from work me and my sister decided to pay a visit to a nearby temple for prayers, and we did but now as I return home I regret my decision of leaving my house in the first place.
There is this Mandir nearby Soldier Bazaar named Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir in Karachi, it is almost a 100 years old and was made by one of the finest architects of the time, like every random visit I did not expect this one to be any different but it did come out to be a lot more than what I expected.
Right beside the Mandir a tent was set to shelter the sacrificial animals; it is a narrow street and the tent almost blocked our way from the temple entrance, not only making it difficult for a person to pass but even if someones wishes to get into the temple they first have to go through a river of flowing animal blood, left over remains such as their head, intestines, skeletons, skull, etc.. trying myself not to step on any of the waste I came into contact with a very old man who was picking up the remains and collecting them in basket in order to create a pass way for people visiting the temple.
I went up to this man and calmly asked him that why is he doing this alone where are the other sweepers because it a whole lot of mess for him to clean it alone, the answer I got from him was shattering.
‘Behn mai jamadaar nh hun bs ek aam insaan hun jo yehi pas mai rehta hun, mai ek school mai teacher hua krta tha aaj kl retire chl rha hun, fariq hota hai isliye roz subh mandir ajata hun lekn aaj jb subh aana lga tou yeh log mandir ka rasta rok kr qurbani kr rhe thay aur janwaron ka saara khoon behta hua mandir k andar jarha tha yeh dekh kr mai ruk gya aur socha k jb qurbani khtm hojayegi to dobara ajaunga lekn jb mai shaam m aaya tou yaaha boht janwaron ki qurbani ho chuki thi aur sb log gosht jama krke jaa chuke thay, peeche jo reh gya tha woh inka behta hua khoon inke sir aur yeh hadiyaan aur pasliyaan thi, mene dekha k is waja se koi bhi mandir k andar nh jaa skta bs isliye thori si safayi kr rha hun yeh log qurbani to krlete hai lekn safayi krna bhool jaate hai, mai Hindu hun aur mene kbhi zindagi mai gosht machi haath nh lgaayi lekn aaj apne bhayi behnon ki takleef ko dekh kr mujhe yeh krna para kyu k agr mai nh krunga to yeh saara kachra hafton tk mandir k baahir para rahega. ‘
जैन मंदिर के सामने मृत पशु का सिर टांगने पर जैन समाज क्रोध में
Translation of the above paragraph: “He said sister, I am not a sanitary worker, I am a common man and I live near by. I used to work as a teacher but now I am retired. I come to Temple every morning but today when I came I saw that these people were doing Qurbani of animals in a way that the route to Temple got closed. Animal blood was flowing and even entered the Temple. So I decided to come again and when I returned I found the pile of bones. When I saw this was creating a hindrance for devotees from going to Temple I decided to clean the mess. I am a Hindu and have never touched meat in my life but I cannot see my fellow brothers and sisters in pain over seeing this mess as this won’t be cleaned from outside the Temple even after weeks.”
I am not writing this to accuse you of anything, you were just completing your farz, but isn’t cleaning up the mess after Qurbani an equal part of your festival? Bhaiya eid mana kar farz pura krliya lekn ab thori safayi karke sawaab bhi kamalo?
Wishing you a very meaty yet clean Eid Mubarak 🙂
This is an original post published on Metronome on September 3rd, 2017 and only little editing and translation have been done.
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