Iftar parties, platform for high and mighty, vehicle of harmony, now out of currency in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh with Aparna Yadav, who later joined the BJP, at an Iftar event at Baba Kasim dargah in Lucknow on June 20, 2016. 
| Photo Credit: file photo

With the holy month of Ramzan almost over, many in Uttar Pradesh, including clerics, parliamentarians, political commentators, and common citizens, observed how Iftar parties, which used to be hosted and attended by the State’s high and mighty, have almost vanished from the political landscape.

“I attended several Iftar parties late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee organised in Lucknow,” said Maulana Mirza Mohammad Yasoob Abbas, the All India Shia Personal Law Board general secretary. Vajpayee represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 2009.

“These events were hosted by Lalji Tandon (late BJP leader who succeeded Vajpayee as Lucknow’s MP) at his Mall Avenue road residence in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Chief Ministers of U.P. from all parties used to organise these events,” he added.

While these events were used for political hobnobbing, they also served as platforms to mitigate communal and sectarian tensions, said political commentator Sharat Pradhan.

He recalled attending an Iftar party hosted by Narayan Dutt Tiwari, the then U.P. Chief Minister.

“Lucknow has a long tradition of Iftar gatherings. They were used to reach out to people and help ensure communal harmony. In the 1990s, the BJP CMs regularly hosted Iftar events in Lucknow. They were significant because many non-Muslims and people of contrasting political affiliations used to attend it,” added Mr. Pradhan.

Communal polarisation

Javeed Ali Khan, a Rajya Sabha member from the SP, said, “The deepening communal polarisation is responsible for fading away of this tradition. The divisions created by the ruling political force in society has affected our age-old tradition.”

Iftars used to be hosted by UP’s Governors and CMs. Ram Naik was the last Governor to host one in 2019, and 2016 marked the last time an Iftar gathering was hosted by a CM — Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.