Tragic deaths in stampede

It was indeed heartrending that as many as 27 persons lost their lives in a stampede when they gathered to collect zakat gifts in Mymensingh. Although there is nothing new about an incident of death while collecting zakat gifts during Ramadan, the number of death toll is indeed shocking to say the least. It happened in Mymensingh town. People who wanted to distribute Zakat did not take precautions to avert any untoward incident. They should have done so. Otherwise, who is going to take responsibility for this tragic incident. It is reported that the death toll may rise further.
Zakat is the one of the five main pillars of Islam. Every adult, sane Muslim who possesses certain amount of extra wealth, must pay annually 2.5 per cent of the money as Zakat to be distributed among the poor and the needy people. If we can collect and distribute Zakat properly according to the tenets of Islam, it will help us to eliminate poverty and hunger from the country. A proper Zakat board manned by knowledgeable Islamic pundits of the country should be constituted to control and oversee collection and distribution of Zakat. This is vital because, if collected properly, Zakat can create a sizeable fund that can be effectively utilized for welfare of the needy people. But everything should be done in a well planned and organized manner and the government should take the leading role in the management of Zakat so that the money is spent on genuine welfare activities. Only sporadic activities of welfare shall not be of much help in alleviating poverty from the country. I hope we shall learn from the recent Mymensingh incident and will be guided by philosophy of Zakat in letter and spirit.  The government should help the families of those who died in this tragic incident.  
Sojol Choudhury
Middle Badda, Dhaka