Qurbani

If I am not entering hornets’ nest, could someone more knowledgeable advise me if the Qurbani is a Farz, Wajib or Sunnah? And if, Sunnah, Sunnat e Muakadah or Mustahib or Mubah? And if Muakadah, for whom?  Those performing Hajj or for all? And even on Hajj, what does Quran say about those who can’t afford scarifying an animal while there?

Also, isn’t (wasn’t) there a practice in some Islamic countries (Morocco, Algiers etc.) that Qurbani is (was) offered by the Head of State (Monarch, later President etc.) on behalf of all ?

I think no where else Qurbani is held at a scale than that of Indo-Pak sub continent. According to an estimates at least a million animals are sacrificed in Pakistan and keeping an average price of Rs. 25,000/= per head 25 Billions are spent on this ritual!  As the clergy is the main beneficiary of this practice, it promotes it understandably well and proper.  If it is not a Farz or that obligatory, could this amount be not utilized on some welfare project for the poor or on a project of national importance, say, the construction of a dam?

Col.Riaz Jafri (Retd)