Malwani residents break stereotypes with seventh annual community iftaar

The colours of Holi had not yet faded from the narrow alleys leading to the venue of Saturdayrsquos iftaar an apt reminder of what lay in store In ldquocommunally sensitiverdquo Malwani today labelled by BJP leaders MP Lodha and Kirit Somaiya as a ldquoden of illegal BangladeshisRohingyasrdquo Hindu women had cooked the iftaari for their Muslim neighbours The venue Two garment workshops owned by a Gujarati Jain whose workers participated in the vegetarianonly meal Among the 120 attendees were parishioners from two local churchesRashtra Seva Dal member Nisar Ali and his wife Vaishali Mahadik who run the Safal Vikas Welfare TrustThis was the seventh such iftaar organised by Rashtra Seva Dal member Nisar Ali 58 and his wife Vaishali Mahadik 49 who run the Safal Vikas Welfare Trust an NGO that has been helping locals since 2008 in a variety of ways from applying for student scholarships to arranging blood and plasma donation camps during the COVID lockdown Indeed most of the women present had met the couple when theyrsquod approached them for helpLocals reject allegationsFrom left Soma Dey Anita Kanojia Siddheshwari Sharma Ranjana Kanojia Nisar Ali Virangana SalveMalwani with its estimated 4 lakh population of whom about 60 per cent are Muslims has been in the eye of Hindutva ideologues At a VHP rally held in Malad in December 2022 it was accused of being a hub of ldquolove jihadrdquo and ldquoland jihadrdquo while Lodha alleged in the Assembly in 2022 that Hindus were fleeing from the area A Ram Navami procession in 2023 only the second to be held here sparked off violence But women living here reject these allegationsGenesis of eventMalwani residents break their fast at the iftaar organised by the Safal Vikas Welfare Trust on SaturdayIn 2019 when some women asked them what exactly iftaar was the couple invited them over for one The next year these women started bringing iftaar essentials such as dates and fruits To make it more meaningful for them they were asked to bring something normally made in their homes ldquoWe once held an iftaar in a hall but the guests just ate and left The occasion meant nothing to themrdquo recounted Ali ldquoThatrsquos why we chose this venue where people can interactrdquo Trustrsquos activitiesFrom left Shalini Sharma Rekha Kotak Sharda Khadtare Kusum Ughde and Archana ShindeThe Trust holds about 20 programmes throughout the year ranging from Diwali and Christmas Milans to organising Bakri Eid donations for tree planting or school stationery from the money set aside for the qurbani to Valentinersquos Day gettogethers for single women and widows to Constitution Day competitions Every weekend they also hold a workshop for students Interestingly one of them Vinayak Khadtare 14 was among those who broke their fast on SaturdayVoicesRanjana Kanojia housewifelsquoNo our families didnrsquot object to us cooking for Muslims In fact my motherinlaw made the sabudana wadas I fried themrsquoSiddheshwari SharmalsquoYes frying so many karanjis burns up a lot of gas But if we start to worry about our gas getting over how will such programmes take placersquoVirangana SalvelsquoI never miss a chance to attend Nisar Bhairsquos programmes What impresses me most is that though a Muslim he respects all religions In todayrsquos atmosphere I like that he works among kids so that they donrsquot grow up with hatersquoRekha KotaklsquoI can roam around here even after midnight Muslims here are so affectionate that Irsquove to implore them to please stop sending me sheer korma on EidrsquoArchana Shinde trained nurselsquoI work night shifts and have never felt unsafe My daughter whorsquos in Std XI is the writer during exams for her blind Muslim neighbour whorsquos in Std XIIrsquoShalini SharmalsquoLast week my sonrsquos football landed on a Muslim woman who started abusing him Other Muslims intervened to restrain her Thatrsquos the kind of harmony that exists herersquoSoma Dey entrepreneurlsquoI live in the very heart of Malwani Ambujwadi There is no such HinduMuslim problem there In fact my eightyearold daughter can recite the Kalma the Swami Narayan prayer as well as shlokas from the Gitarsquo