As usual, the government made tall claims about concessional prices for groceries and basic commodities during the month of Ramzan. There has also been a lot of hype about the Ramzan bazaars, which were set up to provide subsidised groceries to the people and had a substantially large budget of Rs 3.5 billion. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif also said that a digital system had been set up to monitor the prices and quality of commodities, yet Sunday bazaars and other markets remain unregulated. Vendors, wholesalers and shopkeepers have all jacked up the prices of all groceries prior to the first day of Ramzan. This has added to the troubles of the poor and working classes during the month of fasting, who were already struggling to feed their families because of inflation and low minimum wages. The real tragedy is that the woes of the Pakistani people during the month of Ramzan exist all year round. Ramzan is not the only month in which the government makes promises to the people and then fails to deliver. Both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif had said that there would be no load shedding during the Sahar, Aftar and Taraveeh timings, just prior to the start of Ramzan. However, there have been severe power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day, and subsequent protests in several parts of the country, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Faisalabad. Asif had also claimed that more than 16,000 megawatts of energy had been generated for the first time in Pakistan’s history but given the exacerbation of the energy crisis, this seems like a severe miscalculation.
The government, generally, seems to be inept in dealing with the additional requirements of the month of Ramzan. There is always a great deal of confusion about the sighting of the crescent moon that marks the beginning of the month and Ramzan and Eid are observed on different days in different parts of the country. The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee has proved itself to be ineffective over the years, causing more confusion than it resolves, and is just a waste of government funds. It is not always possible to see the moon with the naked eye or even with a telescope, which is why a more scientific method to determine these dates will have to be developed. The fact that Ramzan attracts larger congregations to mosques poses an added risk of terrorist attacks, particularly on mosques of the minority sects. Both the security forces and government officials will have to be vigilant during the month to deter any such attacks and extra security measures will have to be taken for religious gatherings.
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