There is 'Iftar' parties galore in town. The first man who beat others was genial Nafees Siddiqui who threw an 'Iftar' in honour of city media persons. It turned out a dishonouring party for them. As electricity went out, newsmen scrambled for food items in darkness and some fell on the lawn of the house. Indeed there was a whole army swarmed Siddiqui's Defence residence to oblige him. Unfortunately they obliged him in such a large number that even a willing host like him was not prepared for it. Media crowd outnumbered the PPP 'jiyalas' and they struggled for chairs. Mercifully, it was Sunday but the attendance was unusual surpassing all previous records. Syed Qaim Ali Shah graced the party with ministers like Manzoor Wassan and Muzaffar Shujra and advisors Waqar Mehdi and Rashid Rabbani. Shah thanked people of Sindh for their massive support for Asif Ali Zardari. True Shah himself played a pivotal role in amassing support for Zardari. Sindh honoured its' son in a befitting way and it is hard to take the limelight away from London-based Altaf Hussain, who proposed Zardari's name even before the PPP and won many angry hearts in Sindh. Sindhi nationalists are still reeling from that impact. They have no option but to attack Nine Zero and blame it for every thing. Makhdooms of Hala seldom believe in hosting any party; they only enjoy as guests. This is customary of Amin Fahim to turn up after midnight even in Iftar parties. He creates problems for his friends notably Nawab Yousuf Talpur and not very friendly Makhdoom Shahnawaz. Nawab belongs to Sindh's rulers of the past hence he makes his own list of guests and never allows any gate crasher. Nawab is not happy the way the PPP sidelined Makhdooms in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Impulsive Nawaz Sharif innocently played Zardari game and vetoed genial and gentleman Makhdoom for the top slot. Ultimately Sharif himself accepted the fact Zardari used him ruthlessly for his political scheme. I remember the last time Makhdoom junior threw a party, it was way back in 2002, now six years have passed hence it is more than half a decade between the two parties and Makhdooms are yet to host another one this decade. Makhdooms are steadfast in this, at least. Top political heavy weight Jatois stopped hosting Iftar parties some two decades ago when some journalists staged walk out at an Iftar hosted by some top businessman. Sadly the host failed to realize that even journalists observe fast; he kept his guests waiting for traditional dates as time of Iftar passed by. Eager Muslim reporters disliked this display of apathy towards their fast and they staged a quick walkout and Jatoi vowed not to attend any Iftar; he is religiously following his pledge so far. Apart from Iftar, he never minds throwing parties; he however invites close friends only. Since Jatois are not very religious it is hard to demand Iftar from them. They never threw any Iftar when modern Jatoi, Arif was a minister. Sindh ministers vie with each other to provide Iftar to the faithful since President Zardari has shown disapproval of lavish spending. As Sindh ministers were busy paying him tribute on public money, ministers are just waiting for the right investors. But Rauf Siddiqui, MQM minister, hosted an Iftar for Rehman Malik, where Malik declared the US will never attack Pakistan again. This is a funny statement from the man who was supposed to protect Benazir Bhutto and miserably failed. When she was dying in the lap of forgotten Naheed Khan, Malik was sipping coffee with Farhatullah Babar at Zardari House. Now this man vows to provide safety to the widower of Mohtarma Shaheed. The people remember late Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, chief of JUP; used to host Iftar party during holy month of. He used to invite media people and feed them well with sumptuous items and never issued any political statement that day. Genial Noorani died during Ramazan and left a void. His sons Anas Shah Noorani and Owais Shah Noorani are yet to figure out what to do with their father's great tradition. Another religious leader was Haji Hanif Blue who embraced martyrdom two years back. Every Ramazan, Blue would come with his 'mal-pura' (sweet Gujrati dish) and religious perfumes and caps and give these gifts to city journalists. Fortunately, that tradition did not die with Hanif Blue Shaheed; his son Atif Blue keeps that tradition alive.  Other top religious parties seldom believe in giving Ramazan gifts, JI and JUI have some reservations over them. The PPP, ANP and MQM are basically secular political parties but they throw Iftar parties regularly during the holy month. For the PML-Q, the man once active on this front was Halim Siddiqui.  This time around he failed to figure out what to do. He helped in promoting Saeeduzaman Siddiqui as presidential candidate. This Siddiqui lost his election but PML-N guys honoured him with a lavish Iftar at a top restaurant.  From Nafees Siddiqui of the PPP to Saeeduzaman of almost PML-N, this is a small world. The PPP local leaders made a funny declaration of showing their political power; they did by throwing Iftar parties and they were successful by any standards. This is politics.