TCN Staff
Hyderabad: Telangana’s Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is set to host the official annual Dawat-e-Iftar for 2025 at the LBS stadium, with a staggering budget of Rs 70 crore. This has sparked protests controversy, with people asking the government to avoid wastage of funds and use it for minority welfare.
Prominent among those are opposing the move are Dr. Lubna Sarwat, Anwarullah Khan and Syed Ismail, who have written to the chief minister urging him not to allocate such a substantial sum from the Minority Welfare Fund for the event. Instead, they call for this amount to be invested in uplifting the minority communities.
The activists pointed out that minorities in Telangana are struggling in key areas such as education, healthcare and employment, and emphasised that at this crucial juncture, lavish iftar parties are not what the community needs.
Lubna Sarwat and her team have also conducted meetings with other noted individuals, social workers, journalists and like-minded people to push for the cancellation of the iftar event.
In their letter to the chief minister, they stated, “Lavish extravagant iftar parties are not part of Islam, and the Holy Quran forbids extravagance. The Prophet of Islam never advocated such lavish affairs in the name of religion.”
They argued that the funds should instead be directed toward more productive initiatives that would benefit the minorities in a meaningful way.
A resolution passed by the activists from Hyderabad urges the government to abandon the practices of the previous BRS regime and reallocate the funds in a more constructive manner.
The suggested reallocations include increasing the budget for the Telangana Minorities Study Circle (S.H. 29), currently set at Rs 4 crores; strengthening the Center for Education Development of Minorities (S.H. 23), which currently has an allocation of just Rs 3 crores; and enhancing funding for Training and Employment for Minorities (S.H. 06), which is currently capped at Rs 30 crores.
While iftar parties hosted by political parties in India are often more about political motivations than religious devotion, in Hyderabad, these gatherings have traditionally been organised by government officials — especially the police department — to foster good relations with the ulema and other Muslims. These events also aim to ensure law and order while promoting the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, a rich cultural tradition that has long been integral to the region.
Such iftar gatherings, initially introduced by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, continued for many years. Even the late BJP Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, hosted iftar parties. However, since 2014, there has been a steady decline in such events across various states in India, though Telangana has continued to uphold the tradition.
In 2015, after the formation of Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao hosted the first grand Dawat-e-Iftar at the Nizam College grounds. This event was attended by more than 10,000 people from diverse political and religious backgrounds, including common citizens. The Iftar events were also held in other districts at the CM’s initiative, as he sought to restore the composite culture of Hyderabad. Under his leadership, around 100 mosques across different constituencies received funds to host their own iftar gatherings.
With Congress now back in power in Telangana, CM Revanth Reddy is expected to continue this tradition, with the Dawat-e-Iftar likely scheduled for March 24, 2025.
Apart from Lubna Sarwat, the United Citizens Forum (UCF), a social rights group, also wrote to the CM and the Ulema of Hyderabad requesting the cancellation of the event. The president of UCF stated, “Fasting in the month of Ramzan is meant to please divinity and attain modesty in all spheres of life. The real problems of the community are not solved by these iftar parties. Instead, communal politicians will label it as Muslim appeasement.”
The UCF urged the Muslim community to boycott these politically motivated iftar gatherings and focus on addressing the real issues faced by Muslims in the state.
Lubna Sarwat also met with the former chairperson of the Minorities Commission, Abid Rasool Khan, who endorsed the activists’ resolution to cancel the event. Khan wrote a letter to the CM urging him to cancel the extravagant Iftar and redirect the funds to improve the welfare of Muslims.
The Welfare Party of India (WPI) in Telangana has also called for a boycott of the Dawat-e-Iftar, pointing out that the state had yet to fulfill its promises to the Muslim community. They also noted the absence of Muslim representation in the Telangana government.
It is worth mentioning that Lubna Sarwat was one of the petitioners who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the Telangana government in 2018 for hosting a grand iftar party that cost Rs 66 crores, drawn from the Minority Welfare Fund.
A press cum public meeting has been organised on 23rd March afternoon to push further the appeal to the CM, at Somajiguda Press Club.
As the scheduled date of the iftar draws near, it remains to be seen whether CM Revanth Reddy will heed the appeals of activists and the public or proceed with hosting the event as planned.