122 Hindu couples tie the knot at mass wedding ceremony

One hundred and twenty-two couples tied the knot at a mass wedding ceremony organised by the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) at Karachi’s Railway Ground on Sunday evening.

Of these couples, one was selected to be seated on the main stage, while each of the remaining were assigned a booth, where they sat together and performed the wedding rituals in accordance with the Hindu tradition.

The wedding started with the recital of Gayatri Mantra, then Ganesh and Om Jai Jagdish Hare Aartis were performed. Maharaj Pandit Jay Kumar Trivedi recited the Hindu wedding mantras, and guided the couples and their relatives to do the rituals.

The ritual was telecast live on the screens placed at the venue to help the couples sitting in their booths do the same.

The Mandap was set up by Trivedi. Using rice, he created two rectangles on a board. One of the rectangles had 16 segments, each representing a Hindu goddess. The other had nine, each representing a planet.

Each rectangle within these rectangle had betel nuts, cloves, cardamoms and a coin. In between these rectangles, there was a Bhagwan Ganesh in the middle and a water pot made of metal.

Trivedi told The News that the Mandap is used to summon the goddesses, and pray to them for blessing the couples and remove the negativities from their lives.

He said that the Mandap was decorated with rice, betel nuts, cloves and sesame seeds, and when the couple take their rounds around the fire, which is called Agni, these food items are put into the fire as a gesture of offering food to the gods and goddess present at the event.

Sindh caretaker minister for information and minority affairs Syed Ahmed Shah was the chief guest of the event. He said that each couple was gifted a cheque of Rs50,000 out of the government’s minority marriage fund.

Shah said that the minorities department also had a scholarship fund for talented students as well as a medical fund for those in need. He expressed his pleasure on having the portfolio of minority affairs in addition to the information and social protection portfolios.

He said he was an ordinary person like everyone else, and his aim was to provide support to the oppressed and destitute people in society. That is why, he pointed out, he was more focused on minorities and social protection.

He also said that although the Sindh government had formulated the Hindu marriage law and other laws pertaining to the minorities, their implementation was not happening due to pressure from some social groups.

He added that his department is holding a conference on these issues, and that the interim chief minister has given him the entire mandate, saying that each person living in Sindh, regardless of their religion or sect, enjoys the same rights as every citizen of the country and resident of province.

Shah said the government is vigilant that no one is mistreated. He said the government would not tolerate forced conversions and other crimes against minorities at any cost. No one is more powerful than the government, and its writ will be established, he added.

PHC Patron-in-chief Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that he felt very fortunate to have organised 1,500 weddings in 16 years. He said that this is the 17th programme, with the council supporting 200 couples this time round.

He added that out of the 200 couples, 122 were present at the Karachi event, while 78 couples who could not come to the city stayed in their areas. Dr Vankwani pointed out that the federal and provincial governments, the state institutions as well as the local communities support the PHC in holding these events.

He said the council also assists the newly wed couples by providing them with household essentials and rent support. The programme is growing each year, he added. He also said the council supports disabled people with wheelchairs and offers scholarships to talented students. He announced a matrimonial app ‘Jeevan Ka Saathi’ developed by the PHC to help people find one another. He also announced giving 700 scholarships to students.