Following the federal government’s ban on the collection of sacrificial animal hides, various banned militant and religious organisations are seeking the help of madrassas and clerics to acquire them, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Meanwhile, religious clerics in various districts of the province supported the banned organisations and allowed them free use of madrassas as a platform to collect animal hides.
The Eid holidays of madrassa students were cancelled: they were instead assigned duties to collect the hides of sacrificial animals during the three days of Eid, in cooperation with banned religious outfits.
Sources said skins of sacrificial animals were a major source of funding for the banned organisations, and condemned law enforcement agencies for not taking action against it. A number of religious and militant organisations, banned due to their illegal activities across the country, remain active because of the funding they receive through collection of sacrificial animal hides, they added.
The federal government had earlier sternly ordered that no banned religious organisation, individual or NGO be allowed to collect the hides of sacrificial animals without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the district administration. The government had warned that in case of violation, security personnel would arrest such elements and they would be punished under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The federal government had also directed provincial governments to impose Section 144 in all districts to avoid clashes over the collection of animal hides on the eve of Eidul Azha. The government said only charity organisations could apply for permission to collect hides and would be required to attest in writing that they had no links to any banned outfit. This is not a new trend. Every year on Eidul Azha religious groups and militant organisations become extremely active and fuel their activities with the money generated through the sale of hides collected on the occasion. The government has been known to make special arrangements each year to bar this practice, but these elements, using institutions like madrassa’s, still manage to collect skins. Similarly, across Punjab, elements of banned organisations are all set to collect animal hides tomorrow (Monday).
Due to the expensive rates of individual sacrifice, many centres conducting joint sacrifices have been set up. Sources said it was at these centres that such elements were most active, as no one kept a track of where the skins were going at such centres.
According to religious scholars, these elements have prepared lists of people and directed them to submit their animals’ skins to their group. He said religious clerics were the root cause of this violation against the government’s dictates. He added that it was a tragedy that thousands of innocent madrassa students were being engaged by clerics for this purpose.
Javaid Kasab, a man who has a leather business, said most hides coming to their factory post-Eidul Azha came from banned religious organisations, adding that these elements earned millions every year thus. He said they would earn even more this year, as the rates of animal hides had almost doubled, adding that the price of a cow’s skin was about Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 this year, while the skin of a goat would sell for Rs 1,000. Masroor Rizvi a religious scholar said according to Islami shariah the skins of sacrificial animals were part of the sacrifice and people ought to give them to needy people or charity organisations. He said the masses needed to understand the issue and thus avoid giving animal skins to such banned militant organisations.
