Eid celebrations in Bangladesh

Eid Jamaat at National Eidgah. File

Muslim devotees in Bangladesh will celebrate the holy Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday April 11 amid fetivities and religious fervor, under the dark shadow of the Gazan Palestinians who are facing famine. The Eid or happiness has come after 30 days of fasting during the month of Ramadan. 

Eid is traditionally the largest religious festival of Muslims. The festivity is marked by a congregation where all people rich or poor, black of white, waring costly or ordinary dress fall in lines epitomizing the universal equality and unity of man. People cook and take special dishes and share those with relatives and neighbours during the festival.

Rich people help the poor ones by paying zakat and fitra in cash or kind as per religious rules which say the rich cannot use all their properties for their own consumption and must share 2.5 percent of thir income and properties with the poor. This dictate is widely adhered to although not all people share the required proportion of their earnings of weath. 

The greatest social manifestation of the eid is the embracing of each other at the Eidgah which symbolizes equality and fraternity. 

This fraternity should imbue our leaders to give up narrow differences between man and man at the political and the societal levels and work out a system of compromise and mutual accommodation for the greater common good of all.