In a bid to allay the fears of the people from the Northeast residing in the suburbs, Harmony Foundation organised an Iftar party at Dharavi on Saturday. In a show of solidarity and unity amongst all communities, the iftar party saw a huge turnout of not only the Northeast Indian’s from Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, but also Nepalese workers living in the city.
According to Dr Abraham Mathai, president of Harmony Foundation and former president of the Christian Secular Forum, the event was prompted in light of the current rumours and alarming SMSes being sent to northeasterners living in the city. “This is a historic dawat that was held with the support of the Hum Sab Ek Hai NGO with the underlying message that the northeastern people have nothing to fear about — before or after the Ramzan Id,” said Dr Mathai.
Mobile messages threatening northeasterners had been doing the rounds in Bengaluru, as well as Pune and Mumbai, which resulted in a mass exodus from all these cities.
“This confidence building measure is meant to counter the fear psychosis spread by false alarmist SMSes. This initiative by our Muslim brethren sends a clear signal that the only way out is to strengthen the fabric of communal peace and defeat the insidious designs of rumour-mongering by communal elements,” said Dr Mathai. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt was also present at the Iftar party, he added.