Archbishop of Delhi holds inter-faith Iftar to show solidarity for Muslim community

In the midst of communal dog whistling by both Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party during the month of Ramzan, the Archbishop of Delhi belonging to the Catholic Church held an Iftar for religious leaders of all communities. This is the first time that the church organised an interfaith iftar.

This reach-out by the church comes at a time when political Iftars have all but stopped in the national capital.

The Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado is also set to host an interfaith Iftar on April 26 even as he, along with a Christian delegation, participated in Iftar at Masjid-e-Mamoor of Koramangla in Bengaluru.

Archbishop of Delhi Anil G Couto asserted that they held the Iftar due to the hatred and division being spread in society. “The more we come together in love, the greater it is. We wanted to show our solidarity with the much victimised Muslim community in the context of what is happening. We must uphold the ethos of India which is multicultural and multilingual. We have always tried to strengthen these bonds and it’s a small thing we have done here. We have to stand for these kind of gestures of unity and should not support anything that divides the country,” he said.

Seen breaking the fast together were Goswami Sushil Maharaj of National Convener of Bhartiya Sarv Dharm Sansad, Swami Veer Singh Hitkari of All India Ravidasiya Dharm Sangathan, Dr AK Merchant of the Bahai Community of India, Dr Mohammad Salim Engineer and Mohammad Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and Brahmakumari sister Husain Bandi Imam.

Dr Dhammapiya, secretary general of International Buddhist Confederation, reiterated that nobody can exist alone. “The principle of hatred destroys and divides while the principle of love builds. There can be no doubt of which we should be following,” said Dhammapiya.