There was a long queue in front of Iqbal Hotel and Restaurant in Maheswarpasha Kalibari Bazar area of Daulatpur, Khulna on Friday. There are selling common iftar like onions, green onions, potato chops, green chilli chops. Although not a traditional or special item, the Iftar here has something special. No matter which position is taken, each one costs only one rupee. That is why the shop is so crowded.

At Iqbal Hotel and Restaurant, these fried items are sold only during the month of Ramadan. Sometimes bread and dal are sold there in the morning, and at other times only tea is sold.

Iqbal Hotel has been selling Iftar items for Rs 1 for almost a century and a half. The price was what it was then, it is still the same in this time of skyrocketing prices of daily necessities. But subsidy has to be paid for this.

It was learned by word of mouth that the hotel owner Iqbal Hossain (48) started alone but now he is not alone. 11 other people from the neighborhood have joined his initiative. All of them are trying to bring some relief to the low income people with labor and money. There are both Hindus and Muslims in the group of 12 people. Almost all of the 12 do small business in Kalibari Bazar area of Maheswarpasha.

Going to Iqbal Hotel and Restaurant around 2:30 on Friday, 13-14 people were busy preparing Iftar food. Some are making potato balls, some are cutting brinjal, some are grinding ginger and spices, some are adding besan to brinjal and chilli, some are frying them, some are arranging them in pots. The traffic of buyers started from 3:30 pm. The busyness of Iqbal Hossain and his associates began to increase. At that time, seven people stayed inside the hotel. The rest went directly to sales. But the condition of taking Iftar material from there, no one can take more than 20.

One of the team of 12. Kaiser Rizvi runs a travel agency business. Iqbal Bhai started it alone, he said while preparing the iftar food. We joined slowly with brother. All our houses are in the same neighborhood. We start the sale from 4 in the morning, until it lasts. But it was all over in a couple of hours. A total of seven thousand pieces are fried every day.

Iqbal’s work started from dawn. Daulatpur market early in the morning and returned to the shop by seven o’clock. After that some people came to cut eggplants and give boiled potatoes. Many of those 12 people run their own businesses only in the morning during Ramadan, but they all work together from noon to evening. Apart from them, many people came to the shop and cooperated.

Another member of the group of 12. Hafizur Shikder deals in metalwork. He said, ‘He works on his business till 12 noon. After taking a bath, I started working here. Our own small business. But I don’t go out after noon during the month of fasting. Our Khalek uncle here does not open the garage after morning during Ramadan. We all try to work together. I like it very much. Local people also see it very well.

Shibupad Dey, one of the group said, ‘This arrangement is only for the month of fasting. Fasting is over, Televaza here is over. I am happy to participate in this good work. At night we do a calculation. If there is a shortage, we 12 together will provide it. Iqbal gives a little more. The experience of the last two years has shown that there is a deficit of 25 to 30 thousand taka in the whole month.

Iqbal Hossain, the owner of the hotel, started alone but now he is not alone. 11 other people from the neighborhood have joined his initiative
Iqbal Hossain, the owner of the hotel, started alone but now he is not alone. 11 other people from the neighborhood joined his initiative Photo: Saddam Hossain
Iqbal Hossain, the main entrepreneur of this initiative, said, ‘Shop in your own place. No wife and children, no retreat. Don’t worry about extra savings. I earn throughout the year. If something good can be done, I took this initiative from that urge. Now I get a lot of satisfaction from this work. Many have joined, it is also good. If anyone else wants to help, then we could increase the range further.”