ATTOCK: This time the hosting of Iftar-dinner in the holy month of Ramzan has become a rarity, thanks to escalating prices of food items and worst load-shedding.  

Traditionally, people of all class of the society host Iftar-dinner for their relatives, friends, colleagues, etc., and this practice starts soon after the commencement of the month of fasting and continues till the end.

For this purpose, the hosts make special arrangements for Iftar parties.  But this time, such trend of Iftar-dinner is nowhere in sight.

Talking to this reporter various people blamed escalating prices of food items and worst loadshedding for this trend being died down.

“Banana and apples were available in the market on record price of Rs250 and Rs200 to Rs250 per dozen respectively,” Mohamed Ramzan, who came to the market for shopping, told Dawn.

He said the fruits were basic ingredients of an Iftar, and when they were beyond the common man reach how one could imagine holding the party.

Besides, the prevailing 18-hour-long power load shedding was another main hurdle to holding Iftar-dinner as Wapda does not spare the time of Iftar.

Frequent public protests could not even change their loadshedding schedule.

Anis Ahmed, a local resident told Dawn that previously he used to arrange Iftar every year for his relatives and friends but this time he could not do so due to price hike as he could hardly manage his kitchen budget.

Even this month, he only managed to deposit his utility bills particularly of electricity which stood at over Rs6,000, he said.

But for elite class the rising prices and loadshedding have hardly made any difference as they continued to hold lavish Iftar-dinners for notables of their circles at hotels or at their heavy generator fitted luxury guest houses. — Correspondent