LAHORE: People gathered to mourn the tragedy of Karbala in Lahore’s imambargahs donated blood at the camps set up for the purpose on Youm-i-Ashur on Wednesday.
“This is a unique trend and I support it,” said Hassan Raza, a young bearded man, clad in black dress, lying on a stretcher at Hali Road imambargah.
The LUMS student said donating blood was in accordance with the teachings and sacrifices of Imam Hussain. The blood camp was set up by Fatimeed at the call of ‘Who is Hussain’, a UK-based charity group.
“We aim to inspire people through the timeless example of Hussain and bring positive change in the world we live in. Our reps and volunteers organise events to give back in their local communities, ranging from blood donation drives to feeding the homeless and much more”, reads a message on the organisation website.
Aitzaz Hassan, speaking on behalf of the group, said they had set up such camps in Shadman and Gulberg on Muharram 9 and 10 and collected 180 bottles. Rituals of chest beating and flagging have been long part of the mourning events in the sub-continent since long to commemorate the tragedy of Karbala.
Mourners wear black dress and dish out hand-outs among the participants of mourning gathering. Such blood camps were also set up in Islampura, Model Town and Imamia Colony by local volunteers in collaboration with blood collection centre.
Ali Zaidi, another blood donor, said he would flog his back every year on Youm-i-Ashur, but this year he had decided to give blood for the sake of Imam Hussain’s love.