Ramadan . . . prices, unscrupulous traders, syndicates

Ramadan will be here soon, a season which will test Muslims' religiosity through the month of fasting. For Muslim families in Bangladesh, poor as well as middle class, it will once again be a month of worry. The worry has nothing to do with fasting, with following the precepts of Islam. It has everything to do with the hardship our dishonest, profiteering traders will be inflicting on us yet again.

But before we speak of our anger, let us observe what Muslims in other countries will be doing in this holy month of Ramadan. In Saudi Arabia, indeed all across the Middle East, prices of essential items, particularly food, will be reduced.

Even in India, owing to the assertive authority the government has always exercised throughout the year, no trader or businessman will dare to offer goods to citizens at enhanced prices. In Iran, the ayatollahs keep close watch on those who might play truant with prices. In Turkey, the Erdogan government will not permit any trader to indulge in the immoral act of increasing prices.

Such conditions are rare in our own Bangladesh. We are of course used to hearing our governmental authorities regularly appeal -- note the word 'appeal' -- to traders not to go for an increase in prices. There are too the vigilance teams which are expected to ensure that this 'appeal' is treated with the respect it deserves. And while you wonder if basic honesty will finally underscore the business dealings of our trading class, you begin to hear the moans of many of our businessmen, the moans being complaints of the sort that are but an excuse for them to increase prices.

And don't we know that every time prices go up in Bangladesh, they never come down? And aren't we aware of the other reality, that of sales during Ramadan, Eid and Christmas in other lands which give people good relief in purchasing commodities, meaning food and clothes at reduced prices?

Yes, we do have sales in Bangladesh, at prices on an upward trajectory. As we speak, sugar prices have gone up. But why sugar only? Take a look around and you will notice that prices of all other commodities have been shooting up. Observe the men and women, all morose in their bearings, move around the markets with money that will not permit them to buy the kind of meat, fish and vegetables they need to have for food on the table for their families.

This is the middle class, people who struggle all day long to ensure they have a decent job that will keep them going on with life. But their wages and salaries do not go up. No matter. Those profiteering traders will make sure that the pockets of these good people will soon be emptied through their predatory instincts in the market.

No 'appeal' to traders has ever worked in Bangladesh. Neither has there been a mechanism that will deter these dishonest men from taking advantage of such occasions as Ramadan. These price-hiking elements, spouting religiosity even as they sell their goods to despondent buyers, know full well that there is no administrative machinery that can put the fear of government or God in them. And now look beyond the traders.

Gas prices go up. Electricity rates register a rise. While people abroad pay a minimum for fuel, in Bangladesh petrol and diesel prices do not go down. It is a perennial worry for citizens, not just in the Ramadan season. And yes, now that Ramadan is at the door, you can be certain that families will be compelled to go for spartan meals, for austerity. The halim and piajus and begunis we crave at iftar during Ramadan have gradually been receding, going out of our lives.

So where do we go from here? How do we deal with the situation? For all the soothing words coming from the authorities about prices being kept under control, especially during Ramadan, nothing is happening. No trader is listening. Ask any trader why he keeps raising the prices of his goods; he will give you a response which will make you wonder.

Those who transport vegetables, onions, sugar, rice and other goods from outside the nation's capital and from outside the district towns need to cough up money, which is little short of paying ransom, on the way. At nearly every step of the journey of the goods-carrying trucks to markets in the towns and the cities, the drivers and those accompanying them cannot move ahead unless they yield to extortion. So who will put an end to such extortion?

We in Bangladesh have always lived through hard times. And when Ramadan comes, the times tend to get worse. Nothing of market control is there. No supervision is there from those who matter. And that again has to do with the way the various syndicates have been operating. These syndicates have defied the authorities, have gone on operating with impunity.

Ministers have spoken of the need to break the syndicates. The syndicates remain where they have always been, secure and unafraid. The prices of eggs go up because the syndicates have resorted to hoarding eggs until such time as they can demand brazenly higher prices for them.

It is a miserable picture. Yes, there will be iftar parties all across town. Those who can afford to pay despite prices going through the ceiling will have no worries. But go down to a village haat and observe the poor, the extreme poor, empty worn-out bags in hand, moving from one stall to another, worried about what they can buy with the meagre amount of money they have in hand.

It has been a long time since their families had any meat. Fish has gone out of bounds, even the small ones. The pain on their faces is palpable. The sun will soon go down and yet these good, honest men will likely have their bags empty.

As citizens trapped in the poor and middle classes, we will fast, we will implore the Almighty to have the dishonest expiate their sins. But will the Almighty be able to move the stone hearts in these traders who enhance prices, in the extortionists who shamelessly block the movement of goods on the highways and engage in daylight and nocturnal robbery?

And can we look forward to an era when bank loan defaulters will face justice, when those absconding abroad will be brought back home, when those who arbitrarily raise prices in the market will be given the exemplary punishment that will put an end to this entire circle of dishonesty?

Governance matters. Let it be applied, ruthlessly and vigorously, this Ramadan . . . and throughout the year.

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