In Karachi, a Fatal Mix of Heat and Piety

Brilliant piece from Hanif on deaths in karachi and a different perspective. if you think about it with an open heart, there is some merit in his point. most of those who died are those who had to stay out to work but they could not find a single drop of water. Hanif is saying that it really wasn’t the lack of electricity that necessarily killed these 1,000 people. What killed them was the forced ramadan piety enshrined in our law due to which you cant find a single drop of water available anywhere in the city…all restaurants closed, all coffee shops closed, all dhabas closed, tea stalls closed…and all free water coolers removed. he himself and many of his friends removed the water coolers outside their homes once ramadan started.

kindly ask our middle-class/upper-class and religious hounds to just stand outside for 5 hours and fast… but no, poor laborers and workers shd fast as well as work in 45 degrees

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/opinion/in-pakistan-heat-waves-and-the-holy-month-dont-mix.html?_r=0

Re: In Karachi, a Fatal Mix of Heat and Piety

I am in south east asia on an expat role these days...and here in KL and Jakarta, you can be fined if you are found eating/drinking as a muslim but no one really checks and it is not a big issue...to accommodate non-muslims, foreigners, travelers, patients and women who cant fast, all restaurants and coffee shops remain open with curtains placed outside. No muslim feels bad. I believe pakistan used to be the same way in 40s, 50s and 60s until bhutto threw us in-front of religious hounds for his political motives....