On the cusp of sunset, the sound of rumbling trains in the distance faded as they came to a standstill at Cantonment Railway Station in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on April 9. A group of volunteers rushed to hand out large jugs of ice-cold Rooh Afza, a fruity drink made of squash, and platters of aromatic biriyani to hundreds of Muslims as muezzins in nearby mosques announced through their sound systems it was time to break their Ramadan fast for the day.
From April 1-9, this was a regular scene when a group of young Hindus from the Mahesh-wari community started arranging iftar (the fast-breaking meal) for Muslims during the Islamic holy month which ends with Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the two major annual Islamic festivals.
“We were in a hurry to break the fast as we had missed our train and had no idea who had arranged it,” Ataullah Rehmat, who ate at the iftar event with his wife and child, told. “But we were really happy to see that the Ma-heshwari group organized it. Such acts help build better under-standing between people of the two faiths.”
The Maheshwaris hail from the desert region of Tharparkar in Sindh province and are known for their community mobilization initiatives. The organizers of the iftar drive, the Maheshwari Pre-mier League, started their initia-tives by organizing cricket tourna-ments in Sindh a few years ago and later conducted educational and healthcare campaigns. Bhe-vish Kumar, one of the organizers of the event, said the idea behind the drive was to promote interfaith harmony.
“We initiated it [the iftar drive] with a clear mindset to promote interfaith harmony,” Kumar told on April 9. “Once such a message starts becoming a trend then we can see an inclusive and plural Pakistan.”