MUZAFFARABAD: A group of around 40 devoted volunteers has been organising “dastarkhan” (cloth on which food is served), from first of Ramazan, offering Iftar-cum-dinner to as many as 700 underprivileged people who gathered at a shrine here.

“Being close to our hearts, this activity gives us a sense of satisfaction and contentment that words fail to describe,” says Ibrar Awan, who heads the team of good Samaritans.

A jeweler by profession, the 26-year old bearded youth told Dawn that over the past few years his KasaMira Organisation had been organising small scale Iftaris in different mosques of the city.

However, last year some people suggested that we should organise mass Iftar for the poverty stricken labour class found in plenty in the proximity of Shah Inayat Shrine near Upper Adda, he recalled.

“Initially, I was a bit afraid that whether or not we will be able to manage an iftari for this much number of people on a daily basis, but after being emboldened by my affluent and philanthropic family members, we took up the challenge and we succeeded,” he added.

Since then, the volunteers have been arranging Iftari for at least 700 persons per day and sometimes the figure swelled to 1,000.

The menu includes dates, two kinds of fruit, sherbet (sweet drink) and biryani with a drumstick.

The volunteers – all in their 20s - get to their work at 4pm, putting on white t-shirts inscribed with the word “dastarkhan” and the insignia of both organisations.

First of all, someone among them brings fruit and others start peeling and cutting it in bite-size pieces.

Some young children also take part in this task.

Eleven-year old Mohammad Muzammil, a disciple of a religious seminary in Rawalpindi, is one of them.

When asked, why he does so, the young t-shirt clad boy responded, though shyly: “I love to help these elders.”

Nearby, other volunteers prepare sweet drink in half a dozen big buckets.

By 5:30 pm, cauldrons of biryani also arrive and volunteers start making their packets.

He said that a group of 40 university students had twice sponsored the whole Iftari.

They also broke their fast with us, he said.

According to Ibrar, they have purchased 1,000 plates, as many glasses, and other requisite crockery and cutlery to facilitate the fasting persons.

The volunteers return home late in the night, after cleaning utensils and placing them in their respective racks.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2015

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