A temple at Vaniyannur near Tirur in Malappuram district reasserted the message of communal harmony by organising a mass Iftar last week.
More than 200 Muslim men, women and children attended the Iftar conducted as part of the Chathangadu Sree Maha Vishnu Temple’s annual installation day festival on Thursday. The Iftar held in the temple compound became the first of its kind in this part of the State.
“What made us think about the Iftar was the fact that many of our Muslim friends could not attend the annual mass feast held as part of the temple festival because of Ramzan. For us, it would be a big miss as we used to conduct the festival with the help and support of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” said Sukumaran V., secretary of the temple committee.
No sooner had the temple officials mooted the idea of an Iftar than a shamiana was erected on the temple compound and an elaborate Iftar menu was prepared. Biryani was the key item on the menu, accompanied by dates, lemonade, fruit and snacks. “We arranged everything carefully, respecting the preferences of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” said Mr. Sukumaran.
Temple president Velayudhan and treasurer Lakshmanan said the Iftar held on the temple compound sent out a loud message at a time when communal camaraderie had become the need of the hour. According to them, it was a message for all religious institutions and places of worship that segregate people.
“We are like brothers and sisters. We have more number of Muslim families living in the neighbourhood of the temple than Hindus. They [Muslim families] have been giving us all the support we wanted,” said Mr. Sukumaran.
For Fatima, who attended the Iftar along with her family, it was a moment of great joy. “We’ve never had such an Iftar in our life. This was beautiful,” she said, thanking the temple officials. Local leaders of different political parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Indian Union Muslim League, too attended the Iftar.
