Ramadan prices up as usual!

Regular as clockwork, prices of essentials started to rise well before the month of holy Ramadan. This time round, the question is what the authorities have been doing all this time as prices started their unnatural spiral upwards? Everything across the board from chickpea, sugar, garlic and khesari pulse are up. According to what has been printed in this paper, sugar is trading at a price that is 20 per cent higher than a month ago, chickpea price rose by 14.20 percent and so on and so forth. It has become the norm for market syndicates to manipulate prices and raise them ahead of the month that has everything to do with frugality and charity. 

Not so in Bangladesh, especially in the capital city where people have become resigned to the fact that they have to tighten their belts once again. So where are the authorities? It is not as though that this news is a bolt from the blue. Indeed, a market analysis by the commerce ministry in mid-May found supply of common iftar items was enough to last the month. So, what exactly happened to that supply? Even a blind man on the street knows of these powerful syndicates that control demand and supply of food items who have gotten so good at their game that retail prices rise at the same level across kitchen markets in the city.

How many more Ramadans must the faithful endure where prices skyrocket for no good reason? Is it impossible to ask for a month of reprieve for the faithful so that they may break their fast in peace with their loved ones where there is enough to feed everyone.