Rising costs dim Milad celebrations

Traders, tailors, and decorators report steep drops in sales this year

RAWALPINDI:

Crippling inflation and declining purchasing power have cast a shadow over Eid Miladun Nabi (pbuh) celebrations in Rawalpindi this year, with festivities losing much of their traditional vibrancy.

The 1,500-year commemoration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) will be marked on Saturday, September 6, but unlike past years, the city is missing its usual festive charm. Streets, neighbourhoods, and bazaars that were once adorned with colourful lights, flags, and banners now wear a subdued look.

Local Milad committees, once numbering in the thousands, have dwindled drastically, and their offices — where naats and durood echoed late into the night — are largely absent. Residents recall that children and youth would seek donations for niaz and decorations immediately after the sighting of the Rabiul Awwal moon, but this tradition, too, has faded.

Traders also report a steep decline in sales. Cloth merchants who once sold record numbers of white suits for the occasion say business has collapsed, leaving them with unsold stock. Tailors, decorators, tent service providers, caterers, and cap-makers — who typically earn peak income during this season — are struggling due to a sharp fall in demand.

Khurshid Shah, Vice President of the Tailors Union, said orders for white suits and waistcoats had dropped significantly compared to previous years, resulting in record-low earnings. Tent service owner Chaudhry Imran noted that his usual advance bookings for stages, carpets, chairs, and catering along procession routes were down to a fraction of past years. Decorators estimated that home and street decorations had fallen by 60 to 70 per cent, with many mosques also unable to arrange traditional lighting.

According to the Central Milad Committee, the number of reception camps and stages along procession routes has halved this year, dropping from 100 to around 50.

Citizens lament that while the district administration spent millions on decorating government buildings for Independence Day on August 14, it has shown little interest in Eid Miladun Nabi (pbuh), with official buildings now almost bare.

Longtime residents say that Rawalpindi, once alive with devotional songs and glowing with lights from the very first night of Rabiul Awwal, now gives little sense that the blessed month has even arrived.