Bangladesh’s Buddhist monastery offers iftar meal to poor Muslims

The Buddhist community of Bangladesh’s capital once more came out with its marvelous gesture of ‎inter-faith harmony, offering poor and hungry Muslims the iftar, the evening meal that comes after the ‎dawn to dusk Islamic fast during the sacred month of Ramadan.  Since 2013 this initiative of the ‎Dhammarajika Buddhist monastery in Dhaka’s Basabo has been contributing to the well-being of a  ‎society that has recently seen a surge in Islamic radicalism targeting minority communities.  ‎
At sunset, a long line of people wait outside the monastery gate. Each day from 350 to 400 meals are ‎prepared, distributed in a cardboard box.  Inside, potato pancakes, batter fried onion and brinjal slices, ‎lentil dumplings, dates, puffed rice and a sugar syrup sweet.‎
According to monks, the holy month is the "best opportunity to help Muslims." The project is born from ‎the will of the venerable Shuddhanando Mohathero, the highest authority of the temple. He believes ‎that "humanity is the ultimate goal of human beings".‎
Dhammarajika Buddhist monastery was founded in 1951.  Monk Karuna Bhikkhu states that the goal is ‎to establish good relations with the majority Islamic community. In the country Buddhists represent less ‎than 1% of the population, over a total of 160 million inhabitants.  For Sakhina, a Muslim woman who ‎cannot afford the cost of the meal, food freely distributed by monks is a real blessing. "Here we are ‎accorded the respect we should have from our own fellow believers," Sakhina said.  (Source: AsiaNews)‎