Without any shade of doubt, the Pakistanis observe the sacred month of Ramadan with great effervescence and elan but I have observed an odd behavior of our people. Each evening, immediately after the Iftari, quite a few youngsters as well as middle-aged persons make a beeline towards the shops and start smoking cigarettes right over there. Fasting does not teach us to be so impatient that the first thing after Iftari should be cigarette smoking. Rather its against the gist of fasting. If we cannot curb an errant habit like smoking during the holy month of Ramadan, then remaining empty from dawn to dusk is of no avail. Ramadan teaches us to persevere and make ourselves immune from pernicious habits. It’s the most auspicious month to shed bad habits. I earnestly beseech the Muslims of Pakistan to make the best of both the worlds in Ramadan.
MUBUSHAR ALI SULEHRIA,
Wah Cantt, August 1.