“We are almost done with shopping for Eid-ul-Fitr on Saturday,” says Khatun. “We have bought new clothes and special ingredients for delicacies to be prepared for Eid.”
Nepali Muslims across the country are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday. The festival is observed following the sighting of the new moon that marks the beginning of the lunar month of Shawwal, following a month-long fasting in the month of Ramadan in the Islamic Hijri calendar.[break]
Eid-ul-Fitr is one of the two major festivals of Muslims with another being Eid-ul-Adha which is observed after the end of Hajj.
“This is a festival of joy and happiness as blessing of Allah is bestowed on Muslims following a month-long fast,” said Maulana Mohammad Sanaullah Jamali, president of Madrasa Islamia Darool Qur´an in Kathmandu.
Cartoon: Rajesh KC
Ramadan is believed to be the holy month of the Muslims as the first verses of the holy Qur´an were revealed to the last prophet in Islam, Muhammad in this month.
On Eid, Muslims gather in the morning at outdoor locations or mosques to perform the annual prayer. The government has announced a public holiday on the day of Eid.
However, Muslims feel that they would have been happier had the government promulgated the new constitution giving them a distinct identity.
“The new constitution would have given a special status to Muslims,” says Junaid Ansari, general secretary of Nepal Muslim Ittehad Sangathan, a sister wing of CPN-UML.
Not only Ansari but a majority of Muslim activists and leaders, who have been fighting for the cause of Muslims, acknowledge that their past achievements now have been rendered meaningless following the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA).
The government and then agitating National Muslim Struggle Alliance (NMSA) on May 21 had signed an 11-point agreement which had promised to guarantee distinct identity to Muslims. Until now, Muslims comprising 4.2 percent of the total population of the country have been given the status of “others”.
Jamali echoes the sentiment and feels that Muslims should launch a struggle to ensure that the new constitution gives them a distinct identity
“I think we should launch a struggle so that the new constitution guarantees our rights,” he said.
When asked about their other demands, Jamali said Muslims should have representation at all levels of state mechanism based on the principle of inclusion and proportional representation and should be allowed to practice and profess their family law.
“We also demand that the government form a permanent Hajj committee in order to oversee the issues related to Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and to form madrasa education board to promote madrasa education,” Jamali says.
The government had agreed to address all of above mentioned demands of the Muslim community on May 21, while the government has already formed a permanent Muslim Commission to oversee issues related to Muslims as promised in the 11-point agreement.
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