THIS signals the end of the month of Ramadan, or the “festival of breaking of the fast,” a holy event for believers of Islam and even for other religious believers, who are joining the Muslim world in their prayer.
To our Muslim brothers and sister all over the world, today is supposed to be a day of jubilation after the season of fasting and prayer has been observed. In our beautiful land of Mindanao however, it is a day of woe, of crying and gnashing of teeth, or of sadness and perhaps, rage.
We cannot deny the extensive damaged wrought against the revered city of Marawi or what remains of it after the month-long, no let-up destruction happening in this beautiful city, and it is still continuing.
Though we do not see the point now of blaming anyone in this unholy and unprecedented devastation and seeming attempt to annihilate a people, the rest of the Filipinos in the country are well-aware about the ulterior motives behind what now appears as futile attempts to crush this so-called rebel group Maute that is being linked to the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) terrorist group, that progressives alleged is actually a creation of the United States Government.
Many people has continually refused to swallow hook, line and sinker the military authorities’ flimsy excuse for the abhorrent obliteration of Marawi City, even if it seems so easy just to accept it as presented by so-called experts of political dissent. There’s really no point of argument there, because then everything that is going on inside that damned city is under wraps, and only the “authorities” are in the know.
My heart bleeds for the displaced people of Marawi City, who are crying out to be heard. It seems their little voices are drowned out by the BIG words of the experts being interviewed by the established media who are covering “blow-by-blow” (and flaunting it) the fighting on the ground. Yet little has been done to alleviate the hardships of the evacuees, some of whom are dying because of lack of basic necessities.
Many among the poor residents who left their city with heavy hearts have refused to acknowledge the harsh reality that they are now facing a very uncertain future as almost their entire abode had been razed to the ground, if not turned into rubble by the incessant aerial strikes and burning allegedly by the terrorists. Their cries are not being heard.
Thus, what is there to be happy about especially in Mindanao? Eid Mubarak. Perhaps it has taken on a deeper meaning today more than ever because the children of Islam are greatly suffering because of the greed of those in their midst, and aided by foreign forces that are hiding under the guise of benevolence.
Eid Mubarak.
It has been said that many among our Muslim brothers and sisters are looking forward to Shawwal, which is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar and in continuing their fast for another six days. They believe that Allah will reward them as if they have fasted for the entire year.
Let us then continue to pray and fast for peace. Mindanao under martial law is not a picnic contrary to what mainstream media and some people want the world to believe. In our consumerist world that is continually being besieged by the unbridled advances of technology, it seems a struggle for us ordinary mortals to find even a little space where we can find peace.
While it seemed like Filipinos are living in peace and prosperity as projected by the promotional department of the government, the glaring reality of poverty continues to hound all of us.