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Obama to visit Mahim dargah? |
| By: Varun Singh | | Date:
2010-08-04 | | Place: Mumbai | |
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Speculations are rife after US President's special envoy visits dargah
He's the second official from the American President's office to visit the Mahim dargah in less than six months.
President Barack Obama's special envoy, Rashad Hussain, visited the Peer Makdoom Mahimi dargah, popularly known as Mahim dargah, yesterday, raising hopes that the President may be visiting the dargah when he comes to India in November.
 | | SALAAM, YA SHAIKH: Rashad Hussain (above, second from right), special envoy of US President Barack Obama, at the Peer Makdoom Mahimi dargah, yesterday. |
 | | Hussain with Sohail Khandvani, trustee of the dargah. PICS/SHADAB KHAN |
About five months ago, Farah Pandit, an official from the President's office, had visited the shrine along with the Consul General of India.
During her visit, Pandit had noted down information regarding the security of the place.
State of minorities
Trustee of the dargah, Suhail Khandwani said Obama was interested in knowing the state of minorities. "Hussain also visited the Aligarh Muslim University before coming to Mumbai. The President is keen on knowing the status of the minorities," said Khandwani.
Khandwani added that like Pandit, Hussain too liked the manner in which the dargah was being managed. "Both seemed very happy with the management and the way little things are being taken care of here," said Khandwani. "They seemed happy to know that this is the only dargah to have an ISO certificate," he said.
The certificate is an approval for adherence to standards of quality and hygiene.
"They (visitors) gathered information about the dargah and we were told that they would relay this information to the president," said Khandwani.
1431, the year the Mahim dargah was built by Sultan Ahmed Shah of Gujarat at the burial site of Makdoom Fakir Ali Paru, a Sufi saint who was the Qazi of Mahim.
| No sniffer dogs | The dargah has however made it clear that no compromise would be made in terms of checking of security and safety at the sacred place.
"We won't let them take sniffer dogs inside the dargah, in case they plan to do a security check as is usually done," said Aslam Shaikh, chief coordinator of the dargah. "They can use a sniffer dog to run the security check in the passage, not inside the dargah. We can't bend rules for anyone." | |
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