Have A Safe Bakra Eid!

An accident I witnessed a few days ago prompted me to write this piece. Two brothers aged 15 and 18, were walking their bakras; while the older one managed to control his animal, the younger one was clearly struggling. To cut a long story short, the bakra decided omit a dash to freedom. The little boy fell flat on his face then was dragged on the road for a considerable distance before he let go of the leash! The poor boy was in a sorry state, as you can well imagine.

Such Bakra Eisenhower related injuries in Pakistan are common. Ask doctors who have been on ER duty during the run up to Eid, and they will tell you stories of bruised bodies after accidental collisions with livestock that ran amok, as well as incision wounds among enthusiastic amateurs attempting to perform the sacrifice on their own, instead of hiring professionals. The excitement and fervor hardly allows us to consider the dangers we put ourselves and others in.

The stress which we create, in buying, feeding or walking our animals, leads to heated arguments and fist fights. How far the drama plays out depends on our almost non-existent tolerance levels. The refusal to safely dispose of animal excretes leads to a stench filled atmosphere, not to mention the various communicable disease it causes.

And what to say of the cruelty we subject the poor animals to by making them race, not to forget the serious injuries that are often the result of this not-so-innocent sport. We as a nation require a dose of civic and common sense to keep our neighborhoods clean and ourselves safe from injuries and disease that can be easily prevented, not forgetting that it is just as important to be humane and gentle to animals as it is to people.

By Dr Summaiya Syed- Tariq. The writer is a senior forensic practitioner working at the Police Surgeon’s Office, Karachi.

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