EVEN though the heatwave has subsided, I wonder if this Ramazan is only for the elite. After all, only the educated, high-earners can afford to drive an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned office and return to an air-conditioned home.

Similarly, only the white-collar people enjoy reduced office timings in Ramazan. Labourers and farmers enjoy no perks in the holy month and have to earn their living in the scorching heat.

I wonder how they make amends with their faith. Perhaps, religious scholars must do some ijtehad on whether the obligation to fast should be relaxed for the truly distressed.

Zareen Khan

Islamabad

(2)

THIS refers to the recent heatwave in which about 1,300 people died in the holy month of Ramazan. The Rangers’ initiative was brilliant as they set up relief camps throughout the city. Air conditioners were shut off in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in response to loadshedding, while the Sindh government chose to remain silent.

To make matters worse, the Sindh government blamed the federal government for the tragedy. This was pathetic and unfortunate.

Riaz Ahmed

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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