Mass Iftaari: Reaching Out for Interfaith-Harmony

News Desk

Peshawar: As the sun sets over Peshawar during Ramazan, the city’s streets become places of sharing, where dates, pakoras and other iftar foods are offered to fasting Muslims by people from different faith communities.

Among those continuing this tradition is 39-year-old Sikh resident Rawandar Singh, who has been distributing iftar food to fasting residents in Hashtnagri since 2012. The practice was started by his late father, Awtah Singh, and has now become a family tradition.

Wearing his traditional turban, Rawandar distributes packets containing dates, pakoras, jalebi and other food items to people on their way home from work and business.

“I feel inner peace and satisfaction while doing this throughout the 30 days of Ramazan,” he said, recalling how he watched his father perform the same gesture along the route from Hashtnagri to Mohalla Jogan Ramdas.

Rawandar said the initiative was his family’s way of expressing respect and affection for their Muslim neighbours and promoting harmony between different religious communities. His son now also helps him distribute the food.

For members of Peshawar’s minority communities, such gestures are part of a longer tradition of participating in the social and religious life of the city.

Dewa Singh and his son Tajindar Singh, who run a telecommunications business in Hashtnagri, said hosting iftar gatherings and distributing food to Muslims during Ramazan had been practised by their families for generations.

They said such initiatives helped create opportunities for people of different faiths to interact and understand one another.

“Without winning hearts and minds, we cannot come closer to each other or build a society where everyone enjoys equal rights and respect for their beliefs,” they said.

Similar scenes can be witnessed at roadside and community iftar arrangements in Qissa Khwani, University Road, Lady Reading Hospital, Takhto Jumat Cantonment and Ramdas. These gatherings bring together passersby, labourers and people from different communities and schools of thought.

Long iftar spreads feature dates, pakoras, jalebi, fruits, dahi bhallay, chickpeas, rice, meat, paye, chapli kebabs, pulao and drinks, with volunteers serving food to anyone who arrives before sunset.

Haroon Sarbdayal, a representative of the Hindu community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and founding member of the Pakistan Council of World Religions, said such initiatives could help replace mistrust with greater interaction and understanding.

He said Ramazan’s emphasis on patience, tolerance and compassion provided an opportunity for communities to strengthen their relationships. A large interfaith iftar is also planned in Peshawar during the last Ashra of Ramazan, he added.

Sarbdayal called for greater dialogue among religious communities and suggested establishing common study centres where followers of different faiths could learn about each other’s beliefs and engage in joint social activities.

Qibla Ayaz, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology and former vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar, said interfaith harmony depended on peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and meaningful interaction.

He said inviting people of different faiths to iftar gatherings could strengthen bonds of friendship and brotherhood, adding that the principles of religious freedom reflected in the Charter of Madina remained relevant to contemporary efforts for social harmony.

He also highlighted charity as an important feature of Ramazan, urging donors to support credible organisations with transparent financial records.

In a city where religious diversity has long been part of its social fabric, these daily acts of sharing are offering a simple but powerful message: breaking a fast can also become an opportunity to build bridges between communities.