It has long been observed that, as Ramazan approaches, prices of fundamental necessities experience an unjustified surge.
Certain merchants, driven by avarice, engage in the unscrupulous practice of hoarding goods—particularly fresh fruits and beverages—only to release them at exorbitant rates once the holy month commences.
Dates, bananas, apples, and other such essentials, indispensable for the Iftar meal, become al-most unattainable for the common man.
This merciless price inflation leaves the consumer helpless.
The dis-tress is heightened when parents, compelled by their children’s innocent desires for a wholesome Iftar, find themselves struggling to procure even the most basic sustenance.
The grievous irony is that a month devoted to piety and self-restraint is tarnished by economic exploitation.
Where fasting is intended to cultivate patience, gratitude, and compassion for the less fortunate, the unethical pursuit of profit in Pakistan runs counter to these very tenets.
Elsewhere in the Muslim world, governments undertake rigorous measures to ensure that traders do not take undue advantage of the heightened demand.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, stringent price regulations are en-forced, with heavy penalties imposed upon those found guilty of hoarding or price manipulation.
Similarly, in Turkey and Malaysia, Ramadan is a period of extensive welfare programs, wherein food aid is dispensed generously, and essential commodities are made available at significantly reduced prices.
Even in certain non-Muslim countries, particularly in Western lands where Muslims reside in great numbers, supermarkets launch special Ramazan campaigns to make foodstuffs more affordable.
Despite repeated declarations by the Pakistani authorities to curb inflation during Ramazan, the situation remains unchanged year after year.
Market committees and consumer protection bodies prove ineffective, while merchants continue to exploit the absence of stringent oversight.
At times, frustrated citizens have endeavored to launch fruit boycotts as a means of protest, yet such efforts have borne little fruit.
It is imperative that the state enforces robust price control mechanisms, meting out exemplary punishments to hoarders and profiteers.
If other nations, both Muslim and non-Muslim, can successfully regulate their markets during Ramadan, there is no plausible reason why Pakistan should be unable to do the same.
In addition to price regulation, ensuring the provision of wholesome food is of paramount importance.
It is all too common that substandard or adulterated goods infiltrate the markets during this sacred month, en-dangering public health.
Authorities must take uncompromising action against those who peddle inferior merchandise.
Yet Ramazan should not be reduced to a mere matter of economic management; it must, above all, be a period of spiritual and social refinement.
The government, private sector, and civil society must collectively endeavor to restore the true spirit of Ramazan—one of honesty, generosity, and communal wel-fare.
A peculiar trend is also witnessed in Pakistan wherein numerous businessmen, particularly those engaged in trade and commerce, capitalize on the month’s soaring prices, only to embark upon a journey to the Holy Hijaz for the final ten days of Ramazan.
While there is great virtue in spending the last nights of the month in the sacred precincts, one cannot help but question whether such individuals, who have contributed to the economic burden of the masses, truly fulfill the spirit of this hallowed period.
If those who hold dominion over the supply chains of essential commodities devoted themselves to ensuring the welfare of the people rather than amassing wealth, the observance of Ramazan in Pakistan would be far more dignified and re-warding for all.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
(ememiqbal68@gmail.com)
