This Eidul Azha is descending upon Pakistan as a bitter irony. Beneath a blistering summer sky, amid crippling power outages, low gas pressure and an economic stranglehold, the festival arrives without joy and excitement. The streets lack their usual festive glow. Instead, a heavy silence hangs over a nation gasping under soaring inflation and relentless hardships. In animal mandis, families gaze longingly at sacrificial animals, only to retreat in shock at prices now beyond even the middle class’s reach. The same despair fills bazaars and markets. The joyous spirit of sacrifice and sharing has been crushed by economic suffocation.
Public anger deepens under the Eid sun as the gulf between official claims and ground reality widens. As the 2026-27 budget looms, the ruling elite must choose a different path. Instead of burdening the masses, they should enforce genuine austerity and drastically cut the federal cabinet and abolish unnecessary SAPMs and advisers, merge redundant ministries, rationalise salaries, perks and privileges and ensure real accountability. These reforms would save billions and shield the people from repeated shocks.
Qamer Soomro
Shikarpur
