Bisada prepares for Eid a year after Ikhlaq’s death

Nearly a year after the lynching of a Muslim man over allegations of slaughtering a cow and storing its meat for consumption, Muslims of Bisada village are preparing for Bakr-Eid in the shadows of the incident.

Their Hindu neighbours are assuring for a grand and peaceful celebration, but one can sense the tension on the faces of the Muslims.

On the night of September 28, three days after Eid-ul-Adha last year, local resident Mohammad Ikhlaq and his son Danish were attacked by a mob over allegations of sacrificing a cow on Bakr-Eid and storing its meat for consumption. Ikhlaq had succumbed to his injuries and Danish survived with a fractured skull. Eighteen men, including three juveniles, were nabbed on charges of murder and assault.

The Muslims claim that they have hardly sacrificed an animal on Bakr-Eid in the last several years as they are not wealthy enough to buy one.

“Nobody is stopping us from celebrating or sacrificing an animal. The Muslim residents of this village are financially not sound enough to buy costly animals. So we usually do not sacrifice animals during Bakr-Eid,” Bano Begum, a resident, said.

She said she has a couple of goats and she is willing to sell its grown up offsprings to those who want to sacrifice an animal on Bakr-Eid.

“Every year, I used to sell one or two goats to people from other villages willing to sacrifice an animal,” Bano said.

Arbaaz Khan, a class 7 student at a local government school, said he has never seen his parents sacrificing an animal since his childhood.

“It’s not a tradition here. We have hardly seen anybody sacrificing animals on Bakra Eid. As far as I remember, I have seen only one such instance four to five years back,” Khan said.

He said he has heard that some wealthy families sacrifice animals inside their residence.

Head woman of Bisada, Kaushalya Devi, however, said there will be no tension in the village ahead of any Muslim festival and they will help the Muslims in the celebrations.

“We will celebrate the festival together,” she said.