BHOPAL: Cutting across religious, gender and age barriers over 52,000 people have taken in part in Saath Saath Roza Iftar at Iqbal Maidan in the city till Thursday, the 24rd day of the holy month of Ramzan. Iqbal Maidan Roza Iftar committee, comprising 65 members, have been organising this 10-minute Roza Iftar for three years with the message: Celebrating togetherness. Around 2,200 people took part in it on Wednesday. Even the extreme weather could not deter the organisers from holding the Iftar party which began on May7.
Several members of the organising committee fell ill because of sweltering heat but it did not affect the programme. “We have been organising the Iftar party for two years in the open area of for 30 days. And this is the third year. But this year, has been very challenging for us due to extreme heat. In fact, many of us have been down with heat stroke and sun burns, but we continued because it is the work of Allah, said Iqbal Beg, a member of the committee. He further said, “We start preparation from the morning. But time between 3pm and 5pm is very crucial for us- this is when we start preparation Sharbat in the open right under the sun. Our volunteers clean the ground during this period.
We then prepare everything by the time of Iftar i.e. 7.05pm. In the beginning, we have to face difficulties, but later, we became used to.” Beg said, “We are getting good response. Initially, we started it with 50 tables and 200 people but now 2200 people are availing this facility in a day. Besides Bhopal, people from different places like. Abdullahganj, Vidisha, Sehore etc too have visited this expo. We also have special facility for women and children but some of the women prefer observing Iftar with men. We are also getting good response of people from social media.”
“The timing of Iftar is fixed and most of the working people find it difficult to reach home in time due to heavy traffic in the evening. So, we decided to organise this Iftaar expo at such place where people can reach easily and break fast. And Iqbal Maidan is best place for the pious work. It is open for all and especially for those who are unable to arrange food for Iftaar. Also, its aim is to send out the message of unity in diversity, brotherhood and harmony,” Beg added.
