QUETTA: Traditionally pinned on kitchen walls inside homes or on mosque and community center bulletin boards, Ramadan calendars were once a staple in Pakistan, helping believers track suhoor and iftar times with precision during the holy month.

But inflation and the advent of the digital age have led to a decline in the printing and use of calendars that once provided access to the precise schedule for observing the holy month. Indeed, the calendars not only allowed Muslims to properly practice their religious duties like prayer and fasting, but also reminded them of key spiritual events like Laylat Al-Qadr, the night in Ramadan when Muslims believe the Qur’an was revealed, and Eid Al-Fitr, the celebration that caps the holy month.

Today, online platforms have significantly transformed Ramadan around the globe, making it easier for Muslims to access religious information on the Internet, connect with communities, manage their daily practices through apps, find recipes, and engage with Islamic content.

In southwestern Pakistan, the Fatima Jinnah Road in the city of Quetta has for decades been a hotspot for the designing and printing of religious calendars. This year, it was empty ahead of Ramadan, with printing press owners complaining they were facing an up to 70 percent decline in orders. 

“This trend [of Ramadan calendars] has decreased over the past two to three years,” 32-year-old pressman Kashif Riaz told Arab News, saying he had only received three orders this season. “Inflation and the use of social media are the prime causes of fading Ramadan calendar business in Balochistan [province].”

The shift makes sense in a country like Pakistan, which has more than 111 million active Internet users and 71 million social media users on websites like Facebook, WhatsApp, X, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, according to independent Internet monitor DataReportal.

“Last year, we received just one order for the designing and printing of Ramadan calendars but for this season, we haven’t received any order,” Zakir Shah, who works at the Al-Subhan designing and printing firm in Quetta, told Arab News. 

“We used to consider Ramadan an earning season, we would wait for Ramadan calendar orders, but Internet and social media have impacted our business. Some designers and pressmen at this Quetta market hardly received a few [orders] this year, but the majority are sitting idle.”

Furqan Ahmed, a 42-year-old resident of Quetta, said he didn’t see people distributing the traditional calendars ahead of Ramadan this year. 

“We used to get Ramadan calendars from business communities and volunteers of religious seminaries standing outside mosques and at various spots of Quetta city, distributing Ramadan calendars,” he said as he stood on a busy street in the provincial capital of Balochistan. 

“This year, I haven’t seen this practice because now we can receive Ramadan calendars on our smartphones and can check the fasting schedule on the Internet.”

Inam-ul-Haque, another graphic designer, 37, who didn’t receive any orders this Ramadan, said the culture of sharing Eid greeting cards had also declined in recent years:

“We used to send Eid greetings to our family and friends by posting Eid cards, but social media has replaced that culture.”
 

PESHAWAR: Pakistani and Afghan forces traded fire overnight at a key northwestern border crossing that has been closed for more than a week over a dispute between the two neighbors, officials said Monday.

No casualties were reported on either side of the Torkham crossing, which has been shut for 11 days due to Pakistan disputing Afghanistan’s construction of a new border post there.

Both countries have in the past closed Torkham and the southwestern Chaman border crossing, most often over deadly shootings and cross-fire. The crossings are vital for trade and travel between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.

A Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that Taliban security forces opened fire unprovoked in the early hours of Monday, targeting Pakistan’s border post with automatic weapons. Pakistani personnel returned fire, the official said.

There was no immediate comment on the exchange from the Taliban government in Kabul.

Thousands of trucks and vehicles are stranded on both sides of the Torkham crossing, leaving people stuck in harsh winter conditions.