Dubai Gurdwara to hold daily iftar during Ramzan

In a heart-warming gesture, the UAE's only Sikh Gurdwara here, will host iftar for workers throughout the holy month of Ramzan, offering vegetarian meals, according to a media report.

The Gurdwara in Dubai's Jebel Ali, which has been hosting an interfaith iftar during every Ramzan in the past six years, will offer iftar meals to workers in the area everyday during this year's Ramadan, Surender Singh Kandhari, the chairman of the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, said on Sunday during Baisakhi festival celebration.

Iftar-a fast-breaking meal- is a daily ritual during the holy month of Ramzan that will start in the first week of May.

"There are a lot of Muslim workers in this area. There are not many places from where they can break their fast. We will invite these workers to have iftar from our Gurdwara," Kandhari was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.

"There are a lot of Muslim workers in this area. There are not many places from where they can break their fast. We will invite these workers to have iftar from our Gurdwara," he said.

He said the free vegetarian meal (langar) offered to every visitor in the Gurdwara will be given to those visiting to break the fast also.

"We will add dates, fruits, rose milk, buttermilk and some Indian snacks like pakora, samosa also for them. We expect to host 100 to 200 people every day during Ramzan," said Kandhari.

He was speaking after Baisakhi ceremony, the Sikh New Year, which was attended by top officials of Dubai's Community Development Authority (CDA).

"This year is very important for us here in the UAE. It is the Year of Tolerance for the UAE, 550th Year of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, 320th year of the birth of Khalsa Panth, and 100th year of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which happened on a Baisakhi.

"Keeping all these in mind, we celebrated Baisakhi to send across the message of love, peace, humanity and tolerance," Kandhari added.