Quake Survivors Celebrate Eid al-Adha

January 11, 2006

Source: ABC News

Wire Service: AP

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1494959

On January 11, 2006 the Associated Press reported, "Sweet-scented incense smoke rose from newly decorated graves Wednesday as mourners paying respects to those lost in the South Asian earthquake marked the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice.

'This Eid is not being celebrated happily,' businessman Ibrar Shah said at the grave of his aunt and her two sons, which were laid with strings of pink, gold and silver tinsel.

Dozens of new rectangular cement graves marked the resting places of those killed by the quake.

The somber mood in the regional capital, Muzaffarabad, lifted later in the day as residents ritually slaughtered sheep, cows and camels, cutting the animals' throats to send streams of blood into the rivers running through the city.

Survivors across the city carried plastic bags of meat to prepare holiday meals for Eid al-Adha, which falls at the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca and honors Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as a test of his faith... The three-day official Eid holiday prompted the United Nations to warn of a slowdown in aid relief to quake-hit zones by workers taking time off to celebrate."