Editorial
5 years ago

Happy Eid-ul-Fitr  

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With the 'prescribed period' of fasting, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, coming to an end, the biggest  festival in the Islamic calendar, the  Eid-ul-Fitr  has   arrived  with  renewed  meanings and reflections centring around the  celebrative culmination. After  abstinence, prayers and  self-purification by the Muslims  during the holy  month  of    Ramadan,  made the holiest by the revelation of  the Holy Quran, the spirituality and  pristine ethos  emerging out of it  should  guide us into the future. The spirits of fellow-feeling, brotherhood , equality and  harmony  are synonymous  with Islam  which  literally means peace, peaceful co-existence and live-and- let- live  etho.  In a broader perspective, let every Eid fortify  our  collective resolve  to  embrace the  pristine values of Islam  giving no quarter to violence in any form or shape.

The month-long fasting that preceded the Eid gave the faithful a chance to exercise  greater self-control, discipline, penance and to understand the pangs and pains of  starvation. The latter is reflected through lack of nutritional status  among  a  segment  of people. Although  poverty is markedly  in decline, alleviation  efforts  need to be stepped up. The social security cover remains a priority concern of the government; all the  needy  people  should be  brought under  the supportive wings and helped to attain  vocational skills .Islam  stresses  self-reliance .Zakat  injunctions  are a call for an  egalitarian distribution of wealth. Actually, distributive justice  should be an   area  of  continuing focus  for  the government  till the country has reached a point of equanimity.       

Eid-ul-Fitr celebration in Bangladesh comes with a huge bag of economic activity. Addition to the GDP increases year on year around the Eid-ul-Fitr and the month of Ramadan before it. New clothes and shoes, food items, fashion designs, children's dolls, even very expensive ornaments, furniture  and other gadgets of life for those who can afford  have been transacted. Countless temporary  jobs  are created. One of the greatest items on economic list will be the millions of people who commute  on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays. We have no actual numbers, but Dhaka and all the other major cities see a drastic decrease in population as people throng railway stations, bus terminals and steamer ghats to reach their ancestral roots. As trends show, this year's journeys have been safer, smoother  than last year's. Road conditions have somewhat  improved, although quite a number of train-schedules were in a shambles causing great suffering to the passengers. Even ticket-sale through the internet was called into question on occasions. Lessons learnt this year should alert those in charge of  all the three modes of transport for better management in the coming days.      

Eid-ul-Fitr  brings various communities closer, a feature that is of utmost importance these days when nerves have to be kept  and attention focused for the collective good. We in Bangladesh must strive to build a society of justice, fair-play and equal dispensation to everybody. People to people contact and extended friendship on occasions like the Eid-ul-Fitr make society peaceful, barriers break down and cultures coalesce. With that in mind,  we  wish everybody  a Happy Eid-ul-Fitr. Eid Mubarak  to all.  

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