There used to be a complete food ban placed on marriages till it was revised to serve at least one food dish at marriage functions that was also supported by Federal Shariat Court based on Islamic injunctions. It is in the air that CM Punjab is toying with the idea to reinforce complete food ban and limit it to soft drinks, thus promoting import of such drinks which is unhealthy as well as costly in foreign exchange. The adverse economic impact of such food ban is expressed in depression of several industries linked with food thus leading to further stagnation in economy.
Such dictatorial steps like the inclination to ban food by ordinances always backfires as these are against normal trade practices. Simply basing decisions on personal whims of rulers does not auger well for any country. Instead public should be guided in the Islamic way in not being spendthrift in life and adopt a middle path attitude to avoid extreme and wasteful practices in all phase of life including food in wedding ceremonies. One cannot control all aspects of food consumption and production and merely tinkering with the supply and demand of any food item is likely to boomerang on the rulers if practised on personal likes and dislikes without precise research on benefits and cost of any operation.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
