Govt torturing the sick, elderly, travelers during Ramazan

.. Editorial

The holy month of Ramazan is a blessing from Allah for Muslims. It is during this month that Muslims all over the world fall in one line, observe fasts and attend to prayers with zeal and dedication more than any other month of the year.

Whereas fasting has been made mandatory upon Muslims, but at the same time Allah Almighty has given concession to certain category of people who are exempted from mandatory fasting during this month. Such people include travelers, sick, elderly, women having periods, children, those mentally infirm and non muslims.

In most Muslim countries the hotels and eateries cater for such people and extend them facilities to eat during daytime. In Pakistan too it was practiced before the Zia ul Haq era where restaurants would be open but with shut doors and closed curtains to observe the sanctity of Ramazan. People who fell in the exempted class would use these restaurants.

As it stands today, all kinds of restaurants are forcibly closed during the daytime in the month of Ramazan. Even those on the main highways meant only to cater for travelers stand closed. Even if we ignore the exemption given to normal travelers, what about a sick person, an elderly, a child, a child feeding woman, or a non muslim who is travelling on a long route but finds no facility to eat or drink on the way. This certainly is against the spirit and teaching of Islam.

If Gen Zia ul Haq had imposed draconian laws on the land, the governments of today should revisit such laws and make due amendments in the true spirit of Islam. After all our great religion was not meant for torturing people (God forbid), rather it is meant to be a blessing for all mankind. Let us allow it to be so.?.. CN editorial, 27 May 2018

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