Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Dawoodi Bohras Friday, saying that his government and the community’s work together is the perfect example of how society and government can support each other for development.
He also said that he has very old and warm relations with them and feels just like “a member of the (community’s) family.”
Modi was speaking at the inauguration of the Mumbai campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, the community’s premier educational institute, where he shared the stage with community leader Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis also attended the event.
“You have referred to me as honourable PM or honourable CM (former Gujarat CM). But neither am I PM nor I am CM. I am a member of your family,” Modi said at the event.
“From fighting malnutrition to addressing water shortage, how society and government can support each other, we have shown this and I talk about it proudly…the Dawoodi Bohra community has always done its bit for the country’s development and will continue to do so,” he added.
Before heading to the event, the PM also flagged off two new Vande Bharat trains — one from Mumbai to Solapur and the other from Mumbai to Shirdi. In what was his second visit to Mumbai in less than a month, Modi also inaugurated two intracity flyovers to boost connectivity to the plush Bandra Kurla Complex business district and a vehicular underpass at Kurar Village in Malad.
The Mumbai campus at Marol is the fourth campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah. The institute’s main campus is in Surat, while it also has campuses in Karachi and Nairobi, according to the institution’s website. The institution started classes in Mumbai in 2013 in “temporary settings” while the campus at Marol was still under construction.
Other campuses of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah too have been inaugurated by heads of states. The Nairobi campus of the Arabic institute had been inaugurated by then-Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018, while the Karachi campus had been inaugurated by then Pakistan president General Zia-ul-Haq in 1983.
Last month, addressing the BJP’s national executive meeting, Modi had directed party workers to reach out to marginalised communities, specifically mentioning the Pasmanda and Bohra Muslims, regardless of whether they vote for the party or not.
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‘Warm relations since Gujarat days’
Modi said he has always shared a warm relationship with the Dahoodi Bohra community and there may be very few people across the world who may not know this.
“Wherever I go in the world, at whatever time I may land, a few Bohra families are always there to welcome me,” Modi said, adding that Bohras settled across the world always cherish a love for India and can be “brand ambassadors of the country”.
He said his relationship with the Dawoodi Bohra community and the Syedna goes back to his days as a politician in Gujarat.
He narrated an incident when he was attending the 100th-year celebration of the Syedna at Surat: “Syedna sahab asked me what I can do. I said who am I to give you any work, but I said Gujarat has a severe water shortage so if you can do something about it. And even today, people of the Bohra samaj are working hard on water conservation. It is my fortune.”
Modi added that the fondness and relationship continued even when he moved out of Gujarat to Delhi.
Modi and Dawoodi Bohras
The Dawoodi Bohras trace their lineage to Egypt’s Fatimi Imams, who are said to be direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad. The community with over one million members is today spread across 40 countries. A large number of its members live in Gujarat — Modi’s home turf — and Maharashtra.
“They (the Dawoodi Bohras) have maintained cordial relations with all manner of governments with an aim of fostering harmony and goodwill. From Mughal emperors to the British Raj as well as with modern-day political parties,” the official website of the Dawoodi Bohra community says.
In 2016, Modi had received a ten-member delegation from the Dawoodi Bohra community led by Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. The PM appreciated the social reform efforts undertaken by the community, and had also particularly praised the ambitious redevelopment of Bhendi Bazar being undertaken by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust.
In 2018, Modi attended the Ashara Mubaraka event, which is the commemoration of the death anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Husain at Indore’s Saifee mosque. He also met Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin and addressed members of the Dawoodi Bohra community. He said he shares a deep relationship with the community, which has always showered him with love.
Modi referred to his 2018 Indore visit during Friday’s event, saying “the love that you (the community members) gave me is priceless”.
In 2019 and 2021, the PM had interacted with members of the Dawoodi Bohra community during his foreign visits to Houston and Dhaka.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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