Dhaka, Feb. 28 -- Ramadan will be here soon, a season which will test Muslims' religiosity through the month of fasting. For Muslim families in Bangladesh, poor as well as middle class, it will once again be a month of worry. The worry has nothing to do with fasting, with following the precepts of Islam. It has everything to do with the hardship our dishonest, profiteering traders will be inflicting on us yet again.

But before we speak of our anger, let us observe what Muslims in other countries will be doing in this holy month of Ramadan. In Saudi Arabia, indeed all across the Middle East, prices of essential items, particularly food, will be reduced.

Even in India, owing to the assertive authority the government has always exercised t...