Rajasthan's only Muslim minister prays at Shiva temple
Barmer, Jan 2: Shale Mohammad, the only Muslim face in Ashok Gehlot's cabinet, offered prayers at a Shiva temple in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer days after taking charge of the minority affairs department.
Mohammad, son of Muslim religious leader Gazi Fakir, reached his constituency Pokhran in Jaisalmer on Sunday for the first time after becoming a minister.
"Gods and goddesses don't belong to any caste. It is not about Hindus and Muslims. Everyone has his faith. We have Ganga-Jamuni brotherhood which is in itself an example. Hindus and Muslims both have strong faith in Baba Ramdev (a temple in Ramdevra of local deity Baba Ramdev)," Mohammad told reporters after performing puja.
The minister said that he visited the temple due to his personal belief.
Madhu Changani, priest of the temple, said Mohammad has a long association with the shrine and it was not the first time he performed puja. "He had visited this temple during state assembly election as well. It was not the first time he visited the temple. He has some association with the temple," he said.
The minister performed puja for about half-an-hour following Hindu rituals. He also performed ablution and offered honey and milk on lord Shiva's idol, Changani added.
Mohammad won the Pokhran seat in the recently-held state elections, defeating BJP's Swami Pratap Puri, a spiritual leader and head of Taratara Math in Barmer district.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
