The Pakistani Spectator

I have always been observing that our way to welcome thing is totally abnormal. We, most of the times, welcome guests in an unusual way, we welcome a new day with the lights gone, we welcome new government with the bundle of hopes(and they never come true), we welcome special days and events mostly in a way that no one can even think about.

The same thing I have seen in our way of welcoming Ramadan. The best month of all, the month which is full of blessings and forgiveness. Our trader brothers and the hoarding observers started to plane and to be prepared to welcome. The prices of all the necessity of life have gone record high.

During Ramadan people try to buy more than normal and arrange Aftari in better way. Fruits have run far away from the purchasing power. Meat can only be seen but can not be purchased. These two commodities might fall in luxury, but look at the necessities wheat, rice, ghee, and pulses; nothing is in the range of purchasing power of the poor. What this all for? The answer is to gather more and more “blessings” in this month. Once I came across a Hadith of Holly Prophet MUHAMMAD S.A.W. “If anyone withholds grain for forty days out of the desire for a high price, Allah will renounce him.” (Reported by Ahmad, al-Hakim, Ibn Abu Shaybah, and al-Bazzar.). today I feel like we have become blind we don’t want to know what our values are we are just in seek of some shortcut to gain what we want.

Recently sugar bomb have exploded and made all of us affected by its effects and after effects. As price of sugar reach at the highest point of all the times. A fuss was created by accusations “U DID THAT, U R RESPONSIBLE” and all that. Crack down came in action many factories were raided and stocked or hoarded sugar bags were collected and taken into the custody by the government.

With the crack down a hope for a better situation emerged and than a sweetly dark evening of 19th august came into the scene. It was the time when the outcome of meeting between government and sugar lobby came out. The minister of industry and production Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Wattu came up with the news the ex-mill price of sugar is going to be Rs. 49.75. We can call it Rs. 50/Kg. all the hopes were in the air with this news.

According to the information I have when the price of sugar cane was Rs. 40 per kg the sugar used to be available at the price of Rs 16/Kg. now the price of sugar cane is Rs. 80 per kg therefore the price of sugar must be around Rs. 32. As there have been no new tax applied on this industry so far.

The strong sugar lobby, which exists in every govt, made the government to kneel. It has been the sweetest kneel ever. The government have accepted the demand and increased the price. According to one of my favorite X-pert there are three solutions for this problem; one is to be done by the government which now seems to be impossible after what I have seen yesterday even to think about it seems to be a big joke.

The other two can be performed by us. First is to cut half the usage of sugar (this formula can also be applied on other commodities) in order to bring the demand down. And the last one is to pray that these people get some fear of Allah. Because only HE knows what can fulfill the lust of earning more and more these people have.