This Eid ul Fitr will likely be one of the hardest in recent memory because of record-breaking inflation that threatens to wipe out the middle class while further impoverishing the poor.Families come together to share a meal on this day, kids show off their new clothes, and everyone enjoys the crisp notes that were collected as eidi.
However, as families fight to make ends meet, many homes have been deprived of even these meagre Eid pleasures due to the nation’s dismal economic position.
There are several factors contributing to our situation. But it is debatable whether our constantly at odds elite, which includes the political establishment and other state institutions, isn’t equally responsible. They engage in Byzantine intrigues while others struggle to provide for their families. We’ve reached this point as a result of years of financial mismanagement. The privileged are still blind to the misery of the average person.
On the other hand, individuals who need food risk their lives in exchange for a bag of flour. In addition, there are outside influences like the global economic collapse and numerous hot and cold wars being fought nearby and abroad. These elements have all worked together to make the economic situation worse than it has ever been. Tens of thousands of people have lost their employment; in fact, some estimates put the number of layoffs at millions. Assembly lines have stopped functioning completely, and industries have closed. As the impoverished and the “new poor” struggle to obtain two square meals every day, breadlines have expanded. The cost of basic goods like flour, rice, cooking oil, and fuel has skyrocketed, decimating household budgets.
Pakistan is currently experiencing a severe economic downturn as it celebrates Eid. People are cutting back on essential spending, including on healthcare and education, as reported in the media. However, there seems to be a glimmer of hope in other parts of the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia and Iran have chosen to make up after a protracted standoff that was extremely heated. This has had an impact on the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, so maybe the prolonged nightmare that the citizens of these war-torn nations have experienced will soon come to an end.
There is a need to combat the pervasive hopelessness and gloom for Pakistan’s resilient people, who have endured significant calamities in the past, such the country’s breakup. The nation can overcome its great difficulties with determination and hard effort, but only if the leaders decide to change their ways, put the needs of the populace first, and fight to establish a democratic welfare state that can stand on its own two feet. These are undoubtedly challenging objectives for our self-centered elite. But there is earnest hope that Pakistan would be on the road to recovery by the following Eid.
