Population witnesses cool, calm Eidul Azha

Rawalpindi: The residents in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi celebrated the ecstatic occasion of Eidul Azha with religious zeal and fervour and the environment remained cool and calm in this region of the country from Zilhaj 9 (Wednesday), a day before Eidul Azha to the third day of Eid as no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the region on Eid days.

The majority of roads in the region were giving a deserted look on Eid days mainly because a good number of people left the twin cities to spend the holy festival of Eid with their dear and near ones in their native towns though the public parks in the region remained crowded, particularly on the second and third day of Eid.

On Wednesday, almost all markets got flooded with huge numbers of customers and visitors in the evening and almost all roads leading to major markets in Rawalpindi remained heavily crowded till late at night. A number of locals were witnessed roaming in markets with sacrificial animals in the night on Wednesday and the markets set-up for sale of sacrificial animals remained crowded till Fajar prayers on Eid. Most of the local hotels, restaurants and refreshment centres remained operational almost till dawn and people enjoyed spicy dishes, cold drinks and tea on their way back home from shopping.

The weather was not too hot on Eid days however it did not convince the majority of people to come out of homes on day time on the first day of Eid and most of the roads received thin traffic on the first day of Eid. After ‘Fajar’ prayers on Eid, almost all graveyards in town started receiving a heavy influx of people who turned up there to offer ‘fateha’ on the graves of their loved ones.

Most of the main markets in town were not operating on Eid days. The roads leading to main markets including Raja Bazaar, Tench Bhatta and Commercial Market received little traffic load particularly on the first and second day of Eid. Majority of local restaurants, pan shops, Bar B Q and fast food points did not operate on the first day of Eid though on the second and third day, the food outlets received a good number of customers particularly in the evening. It is important that people face a number of frustrations throughout the year mainly because of political instability, the power outages, price hike and inflation or due to the bad law and order situation and in this situation, it seems as they take Eid as an opportunity to enjoy as much as they can.

On Eid days, as a rare phenomenon, no one was looking in a hurry or in the stress of reaching somewhere before anyone else. The scene was giving look of a peaceful and prosperous town on Eid days and it was a great satisfaction for a number of residents that no untoward incident or bigger emergency took place anywhere in the region.