In Delhi8217;s political circles, it8217;s time for Iftars, feasting and networking

President K.R. Narayanan has held his Iftar, as has Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi. Vice President Krishan Kant is hosting one on December 14, the Prime Minister has scheduled his for December 19, Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh8217;s is on December 20 and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reserved hers for December 21. If Iftar regulars are not already sick, they will be by the time Id rolls around.

Never before has the concept of Iftar been as trivialised as this year. It8217;s become another excuse to throw a party, an occasion for some networking, a reason to call in TV cameras, a chance to announce that you8217;ve arrived on Delhi8217;s hybrid power circuit. The menus are lavish, the decorations ornate. Balayogi even called in a musician to play old Hindi film songs.

The Muslim community is nonplussed at the frenzy that has overtaken political circles. Says former MP Aslam Sher Khan, 8220;It was never an occasion to celebrate. Wealthy Muslims used to send iftari8217; food to the local mosque for distribution among the poor at the end of a day of fasting. Some would feed the poor at their homes. Iftar was a kind of charity, not a party.8221;

According to BSP MP Rashid Alvi, Iftars are meant to be quiet affairs. 8220;We break our fast with a few dates, say our prayers and eat. There8217;s no music or gaiety at the end of the day. Traditional Muslims don8217;t even watch television during the month of Ramzan.8221;

But then, sentiment hardly matters. In fact, at most Iftars, non-Muslims outnumber the Muslims with the media making up the biggest contingent of guests. Amar Singh invited the Arab Ambassadors and a guest list made up of Anil Ambani, Nafisa Ali and Amitabh Bachchan. Balayogi called the cream of Delhi8217;s Telegu community. The President8217;s guest list was Rashtrapati Bhavan8217;s usual crowd of senior political leaders, bureaucrats and intellectuals.

The seeds for the monstrosity that Iftar has become today were sown by former Congress leader H.N. Bahuguna after he joined the Janata Party. He threw the first 8220;official8221; Iftar in 1978 as a political ploy to consolidate his Muslim support base. The next year, Indira Gandhi, then in the Opposition, hosted a rival Iftar party.

But there was a difference. According to Aslam, Indira Gandhi used her Iftar gatherings to mix with Muslim leaders and intellectuals and get a feel of the community8217;s pulse. In today8217;s Z-Plus security environment, hosts sit with other VIPs, cordoned off from their guests by a thick rope and line of SPG men. There is hardly a Muslim leader in the enclosure.

Says former MP Wasim Ahmed, 8220;Iftars got a fillip after the Babri Masjid was demolished. Politicians used Iftars to woo the Muslims. Now, it8217;s a competition between different political parties.8221;

Even the BJP climbed on to the bandwagon two years ago by hosting a totally vegetarian Iftar. Surprisingly, there8217;s no news of an Iftar by the new BJP president Bangaru Laxman who started off his term on a controversial note with his pro-Muslim statements. But with little known MPs from his party like A.P. Jithender Reddy succumbing to the madness he held an Iftar on December 11, can Laxman be far behind?