EID Mubarak! The nation will celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday or the day after subject to the sighting of the moon of Shawal following the month-long fasting. The Muslims all over the world celebrate the holy occasion of ending the month of fasting but there is hardly any mood or environment this year like last year to celebrate amid the surge of coronavirus.
We are passing renewed lockdown this time when businesses and other establishments have remained shut all over the country and people’s movement was restricted. It has rendered the poor jobless. They are without food and cash while middle income people are facing severe financial crisis forcing many to shelve celebration. Only a few can visit homes to join families and those who may dare it will do so at big risk of contracting infection now sweeping across the country.
We remind people at this critical time to be aware of the health risk before making any travel. Everybody must wash or sanitize hands, wear facial masks and maintain social distancing to remain safe and help others to keep safe. It requires high degree of self-restraint like fasting.
This is a lost business year. Small traders are facing the brunt of the financial uncertainty adding to the queue of new poor seeking help all over. Transport workers, rickshaw pullers and day labourers have no daily income and their families are starving. We would say, the rich and the wealthy should extend their helping hands to the poor. They should pay Zakat fairly and honestly, which is a legitimate share of the poor in their wealth.
We would also ask employers to pay overdue wages and arrears to workers taking into account the crisis they are facing.
Nonetheless the Eid is at our door and we welcome the celebration which symbolizes the end of the month of self-restraint. Let the practice of self-restraint through fasting in the month of Ramzan help all to reflect it in life in the rest of the year.
