Breaking the tradition of split on observance of the Holy Ramadan, the entire nation went to fasting on the same day. Indeed it is a good omen that the blessed month of Ramadan has forged the people to show rare consensus on the religious festivity.
It is a month of blessings, reflection, prayer and fasting for Muslims wherein Muslims gain a better understanding of and appreciation for the sufferings of impoverished and hungry people and serves to remind Muslims of the importance of charity, and their obligation to be charitable.
Apart from the individual acts of generous charities, every government announces a Ramadan relief package every year to share the economic sufferings of the poor masses but this time around even on the eve of Ramadan, the federal government failed to offer the Ramadan Relief Package.
The prices of essential eatables like flour, rice, wheat, lentils and oil, sugar and dates at utility stores have been reduced for general consumers. Urban consumers, that mostly are relatively better paid, do take benefit from the government’s offer but the under-paid people living in far-flung rural areas, who deserve than others, miss the benefit due to lack of access to the facility. Looking after the destitute and the poor and providing sustainable assistance in improving their living conditions is what Almighty Allah has stressed upon the most and the month of Ramadan provides the best window to act upon the teachings of God.
The much-ignored residents of the war-torn FATA region deserve more than any body else—thousands of them are forced to live under the open sky sans sufficient food and health-cover. Moreover, those living in far-off hilly areas, hardly having any employment opportunities, had to pay double of the price of a flour bag than what a family pays in Lahore or Peshawar.
The poor are finding it hard to afford a meal every day during Ramadan, while those who had unleashed a reign of terror and suppression are surviving on sumptuous dasterkhans. In the hour of trial and sufferings, no efforts are afoot to provide relief to the needy.
The federal and provincial governments are just making publicity stunts, ignoring the pain, the agony and the starvation that the war on terror has wreaked on the people of the most under-developed areas of Pakistan.
Even the members of the civil society have turned their backs on them. Secondly, the hoarding of the essential goods has created an artificial shortage that has pushed the prices of the eatable up manifold hence traders are recklessly fleecing the public with both hands.
The government control over the price fixation is nonexistent. To reinstate the writ of the law on the market mechanism, the provincial governments should take strict measures to stem undue profiteering during Ramadan.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Pakistan: Sharing pain of the people in need
Breaking the tradition of split on observance of the Holy Ramadan, the entire nation went to fasting on the same day. Indeed it is a good omen that the blessed month of Ramadan has forged the people to show rare consensus on the religious festivity.
It is a month of blessings, reflection, prayer and fasting for Muslims wherein Muslims gain a better understanding of and appreciation for the sufferings of impoverished and hungry people and serves to remind Muslims of the importance of charity, and their obligation to be charitable.
Apart from the individual acts of generous charities, every government announces a Ramadan relief package every year to share the economic sufferings of the poor masses but this time around even on the eve of Ramadan, the federal government failed to offer the Ramadan Relief Package.
The prices of essential eatables like flour, rice, wheat, lentils and oil, sugar and dates at utility stores have been reduced for general consumers. Urban consumers, that mostly are relatively better paid, do take benefit from the government’s offer but the under-paid people living in far-flung rural areas, who deserve than others, miss the benefit due to lack of access to the facility. Looking after the destitute and the poor and providing sustainable assistance in improving their living conditions is what Almighty Allah has stressed upon the most and the month of Ramadan provides the best window to act upon the teachings of God.
The much-ignored residents of the war-torn FATA region deserve more than any body else—thousands of them are forced to live under the open sky sans sufficient food and health-cover. Moreover, those living in far-off hilly areas, hardly having any employment opportunities, had to pay double of the price of a flour bag than what a family pays in Lahore or Peshawar.
The poor are finding it hard to afford a meal every day during Ramadan, while those who had unleashed a reign of terror and suppression are surviving on sumptuous dasterkhans. In the hour of trial and sufferings, no efforts are afoot to provide relief to the needy.
The federal and provincial governments are just making publicity stunts, ignoring the pain, the agony and the starvation that the war on terror has wreaked on the people of the most under-developed areas of Pakistan.
Even the members of the civil society have turned their backs on them. Secondly, the hoarding of the essential goods has created an artificial shortage that has pushed the prices of the eatable up manifold hence traders are recklessly fleecing the public with both hands.
The government control over the price fixation is nonexistent. To reinstate the writ of the law on the market mechanism, the provincial governments should take strict measures to stem undue profiteering during Ramadan.
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