Hyderabad gearing up for holy month of Ramzan

Hyderabad: With just five days left for the holy month of Ramzan to begin, hectic activity is going on across the city.

Fresh coat of paint is being given to mosques by the managing committees and measures being taken to adequately illuminate the premises. “People are coming forward and donating prayer rugs, mats and plastic utensils to the masjid. Some are taking responsibility of providing ‘iftar’ meal and snacks on specific days of the month,” said Aashwaq Khan, a ‘mutawalli’ (caretaker) of mosque in Jahanuma.

As a goodwill gesture many provide meals after ‘sehri’ and ‘iftar’. The demand at few mosques is such that the management asks people to inform well in advance and fix a date for hosting ‘iftar’ meal (after dusk meal) for the pious.

This apart, several managements themselves take care of arranging ‘sehri’ meal (pre-dawn meal) for boarders at hostels and independent houses in the city.

Similarly, the mosque committees are finalising the ‘Hafiz’ (one who memorised Quran) to recite ‘taravee’ prayers during the Ramzan month. The ‘taravee’ prayers are read for around two hours after the devotees break their fast.

Hafeez Mohamed Rizwan Qureshi, Khateeb, Mecca Masjid said that every evening three chapters of Quran would be recited during the ‘taravee’ prayers in the month of Ramzan.

Meanwhile, loads of dates have arrived at the Begum Bazaar market from various parts of the world including from Tunisia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and United Arab Emirates. “There is no major hike in the prices of dates. From across the world, dates have arrived at city market and are available at different prices depending upon its quality,” said a trader at Begum Bazaar.

Hotels too have started to set up ‘bhattis’



to prepare ‘haleem’. This year, ‘haleem’ at popular hotels is expected to be priced between Rs 140 and Rs 160 per plate. With the summer in progress, hoteliers were yet to decide on the quantity of ‘haleem’ to be prepared every day as it was quite a heavy diet, they said.

Police to hold meeting with Muslim religious scholars, leaders

The south zone police will hold a meeting with Muslim religious scholars, religious leaders and public representatives regarding Ramzan arrangements.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Amber Kishore Jha, told that the police would call a meeting this week to understand the needs of the community and make proper security arrangements.

He said that senior officials from TS Wakf Board, Minority Welfare Department, GHMC, HMWS&SB, TSRTC, TSSPDCL and Telangana Fire and Emergency Services would participate.

“A security plan has been drafted keeping in view international issues and developments in mind. It will be finalised after a meeting with the community leaders and public representatives,” the DCP said.

The police apart from security arrangements in mosques and markets, are emphasising on the need for intensified patrolling in the neighbourhood to prevent property offences. Generally, during early morning or late night, when people go for prayers, burglars and thieves make their way into houses and decamp with property or vehicles kept outside homes.

“A meeting will be held with all crime teams (detective teams) of all police stations to ensure that there are no property offences during the period,” the official said.

During the month, police pickets would be posted at all sensitive points to ensure there was no trouble or any attempt to rake in nuisance by mischief mongers.