Ramadan, a Muslim holy month of ends this week with Eid Al-Fitr. To the millions of Muslims that have been observing the holy month of Ramadan, may Allah receive your supplications and honour your fast. Every year, Muslims and Christians fast – Ramadan for Muslims, Lenten for Christians – but this is the first time in quite a while that the two faiths have started their fasting seasons simultaneously. While the 30-day fast for Muslims concludes with this week, Christians will break theirs on Palm Sunday and we at The Observer take this opportunity to wish our readers enriching festivities. The season of fasting comes at a time when our country needs prayers, more than ever. We have just concluded a hotly-contested and bruising election period that has left many in prison, others gravely injured, scores killed, and some taking their loss at the ballot with shameless impunity. The fasting season comes at a time when the economy is flourishing on paper, but not equally reflecting in many Ugandans’ pockets and bank accounts. It comes at a time when some of the Faithful have lost their only livelihoods after evictions from city streets, markets suspiciously going up in flames at night, and for others, floods sweeping mercilessly through their loan-procured merchandise in arcade basements. It is a difficult time when every Ugandan – usually known for our happy-go-lucky, partying nature – seems to be angry at something or someone. And because of this, reports of violent crime are becoming more common, and every day, Ugandan life seems to lose more value. We do not have to wait for a ‘national prayer breakfast’ or ‘national prayer day’, where people who do not even understand the plight of the Ugandan at the grassroots gather to say a prayer for us; it is these individual steps toward seeking God, like denying oneself food and worldly pleasures in the hope that God will hear one’s groanings, that really count. May the grace that carried you through Ramadan and Lenten season continue even after the fasting ends; maybe then, we will finally develop that central nervous system Kampala lawyer David Mpanga once talked about on X, which enables us to feel one another’s pain. Eid Mubarak. For God and my Country.The post To our Muslim brothers and sisters, Eid Mubarak! appeared first on The Observer.