'Onam iftars' in Kerala Ramzan

By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,

Kozhikode: Ramzan is going active in Kerala with believers flocking to masjids for tharaveeh and iftar parties inviting people of different religions. The occurrence of Kerala’s state festival Onam during the Ramzan paved way for special Onam iftars also this year.

Ramzan-special religious speeches are organized all over the state. The speeches of Rahmatullah Qasmi Moothedam, organized by the Qur’an Study Centre, have entered its ninth year in this Ramzan. Well-known personalities like Muslim League leader Abdussamad Samadani, former KPCC president K Muraleedharan, present KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, BJP leader Adv PS Sreedharan Pilla and ET Muhammed Basheer MP have attended the speeches held in Kozhikode in the past several days. Qasmi is the director of the Qur’an Study Centre and his speeches attract a large number of people. Qasmi will reportedly deliver speeches at Tirur from Thursday to Sunday. Goats will be distributed to 100 poor families living in the coastal areas as part of the programme.

Onam feast [Photo by George Augustine]

Iftar parties are organized by different organizations, masjids and even friendship groups. About 400 people, including labourers from other states, attended the iftar party organized by a group at Chendamangallore in Kozhikode. Iftar party was organized along with Onam celebrations yesterday at East Chendamangallore. There was a competition of flower carpet and distribution of kits. Hindu brothers of the place are reportedly organizing an iftar party for about 500 people today. An ‘Onam-Ramzan harmonious iftar party’ was organized there in which people from different walks of life attended. ‘Madhyamam’ editor O Abdurahman, Chendamangallore panchayat president A Kalyanikkutty, Vice-president Kapyedath Chandran, Mahall president KT Abdulla etc were some of the people who attended. Al Irshad Charitable Society distributed Onam kits to nearly 150 families at Omasseri in Kozhikode.

The Ittihadu Shubbanil Mujahideen organized a ‘Thaskiyath Meeting’ at Vengara in which religious experts gave speeches on various subjects. Malappuram district Panchayat president Arimbra Muhammed Master inaugurated the programme. The Ramzan speeches organized by the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham at Perinthalmanna ended yesterday with the chief address of orator and SYS state secretary Abdussamad Pookkottur.
Meanwhile, the markets are also busy as people are flocking to buy new clothes and other items during the Onam vacation. Small shops are also active with special Ramzan-special and other snacks such as Chattipathiri, chicken roll, cutlet, samosa, unnakkaya etc. The business begins around 3 pm and goes too busy on nearing the time of maghrib. All items will be sold in hours. The fruit market is not very active as it is rainy season and also because of the high prices.

The Muslim League has launched the ‘Karunyam 2010’ project under the Shihab Thangal Relief Cell (STRC), named after its late leader Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal. Panakkad Sadiqali Shihab Thangal inaugurated the distribution of rice as part of the project in the Malappuram district yesterday. Onam-Ramzan kits were also distributed. The Mampuram Santhvanam Centre distributed Ramzan kits for 300 families and Onam kits for 35 families as part of the STRC.

The Jamat e Islami organized distribution of Onam-Ramzan kits and other service activities in several parts. The ‘Janapaksha Munnani’, the political alliance sponsored by the Jamat e Islami, engaged itself in various service activities in Kozhikode district. Rice, sugar, coconut oil, tea, dal, vegetables etc were collected by accepting contributions from people and distributed among the poor and needy. The Kodiyathur unit of the Jamat e Islami distributed Onam kits containing sweets to all the Hindu families in the place.