Let’s not sacrifice our lives

Eid-ul-Adha is about sacrificing animals in God’s name. It means we sacrifice for the well-being of the society as well. No doubt.

Right now we are observing another Eid-ul-Adha . For us, Eid is not only a religious, but also an emotional celebration, enjoying the time with near and dear ones. But the question arises: is it a celebration where we have to sacrifice our lives?

To find out the answer, let's have a look at what we have been doing during Eid since the pandemic started.

If we look back, since Covid-19, we have had three Eids. From the beginning, the government attempted to make people maintain social distance. The government had imposed lockdowns in every district for the people's safety. But some of us didn’t agree with the directives and crowded the ferry terminals. Some of these people even died. Before dying they might thought that they would have fun with their families and relatives but they died, and the whole family had to observe a sad Eid.

But are we going to change our mind or are we going to rush to villages to meet our families? Since 2020 there has been a global pandemic of Covid-19. Throughout the year it has changed and mutated, scientists have said.

Covid-19 was decreasing in Bangladesh until a new variant came from India. Many people lost their lives there and then it came to our country. It’s dangerous and is killing people in our country.

As we can see, the government has shut down all of the districts in Bangladesh. Last Eid all the people where blaming the government because they enforced a lockdown when it was Eid. People were so desperate to go home and they did. As a result, we have a huge number of Covid-19 patients. We are not sure what is coming to us. We never learn from others, but tend to take very serious issues lightly until it severely impacts us.

Covid-19 is something that can be managed only by individual common sense. For example, wearing masks properly and maintaining social distance are the two key things we need to follow even after having the vaccination. No one in the world yet is sure of the remedy for Covid-19. We all know that. But when the government or relevant organisation imposes restrictions, we take is as fun. I am not talking about people who really suffer due to lack of income because of the pandemic. The people who can easily maintain COVID-19 restrictions seem to be the rule breakers nowadays.

The government has announced its support for the poor and marginal people. There are some hotlines where people can even call for food. Yes, all this support may not be enough. But to survive, we need to accept some realities for the time being. If we sacrifice time, it means saving some lives. But if we die for our own fault, then no one else is to blame.

I have seen many pictures online of cattle markets. It's the same scenario like the ferry terminals. Actually there is no on one who can save us. We like to dive into death to have little fun. It’s possible to maintain caution to avoid being infected by Covid-19 but it depends on our behaviour. We need to show some respect to the government measures as well to follow what our doctors and experts suggest. We should not dive into matters as we do during normal cattle markets or during Eid time. We need to think and stay alive for the next Eid. This is all about learning sacrifice. Not just sacrificing animals but also sacrifice for humanity. And here humanity is keeping ourselves safe by practicing Covid-19 safety as well not infecting others. Let us all have a happy Eid with some sense. We should not lose our sense and sacrifice our lives.

* Aiyana Hasan is a student of class VI