After a family from Pakistan was denied accommodation at many Hotels in Mumbai, a businessman who owns the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise has offered a free meal to all such visitors. Iqbal Latif, who owns 26 outlets of the international food chain in Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, has showed show how Pakistanis welcome their neighbors. “I felt bad when I saw this family had to spend part of the night on the footpath near a police station and another part at a pavement at the railway station,” Latif said.
Iqbal Latif has placed a hoarding featuring the Indian and Pakistani flags in front of his store saying that “All Indian short term visitors with Valid Visa are allowed a Free Meal and a Donut as a ‘Goodwill Gesture’”. He also added ‘To promote Harmony peace understanding and Live between two neighbors.’ It is not a big deal, but it is an effort to show and prove Gandhiji teachings.
A Pakistani family who visited Mumbai to pray at the Haji Ali Dargah, have spent the whole night on a pavement after they were denied to give accommodation by the Hotels. This incident was strongly condemned. On the first day of the offer, 17 meals were served to Indians in a Dunkin Donuts outlet in the diplomatic enclave of Islamabad. Latif said he had felt “great honor in hosting our Indian friends”.
Since the offer was made, the outlets served more than 2,400 customers and sales increased by 30%, Latif said. His sales are going up and on the first day itself they were able to feed 17 Indians in a store in Islamabad. People absolutely loved his efforts. Speaking about the issue he said, “Across the border, there is no hate. We all love India. Around 1.4 billion people love each other. We are only marginalized by a few hate mongers on both sides.”