Senior Pathan sponsors wedding of 10 couples

VADODARA: When over 100 couples tie nuptial knots at Petlad taluka in Anand during a mass marriage ceremony on Sunday, 10 of them will have their wedding rituals etched in their memory for a long time to come.
For, they will be blessed by the family of star cricketers Irfan and Yusuf Pathan. Mehmoodkhan Pathan, father of Pathan brothers, has sponsored the wedding expenses of 10 couples, many of whom come from average financial background.
Though the Pathan brothers will not attend the event, the entire family will drive down to Petlad to bless the couples.
The senior most Pathan, who is elated over Yusuf Pathan's inclusion in the World Cup squad, said he sponsored the weddings to help the couples. "It is just our way of saying thanks to the God. Both Irfan and Yusuf got huge money in IPL-4 auctions and Yusuf made it to the World Cup squad. We are very happy and hence thought of returning something to the society. And what better way than to help couples start a new life," Mehmoodkhan told TOI.
Mehmoodkhan donated Rs 1.51 lakh to a Petlad-based organisation Mohaddis-e-Azam Mission that has organised the mass marriage wherein couples from all sects of Muslim community will tie the knots.
"Members of the organisation came to invite us for the mass wedding. That is when the idea of sponsoring marriage of some couples struck me. I talked with Irfan and Yusuf and they too agreed to bear wedding expenses. I liked the concept as couples from all sects of our community will benefit from this mass marriage," added Mehmoodkhan.
Mehmoodkhan, his wife Shamimbano, daughter Shagufta and some other relatives will attend the wedding ceremony and bless the couples. Union minister of state for railways, Bharatsinh Solanki, Union minister of state for surface transport and national highways Tushar Chaudhary and former Maharashtra chief minister and Union rural development and panchayati raj minister Vilasrao Deshmukh will also attend the ceremony.
"We went to invite Mehmoodkhan and he agreed to sponsor wedding of 10 couples. We are thankful to him as we are able to marry off poor and orphan people due to donations from well-to-do persons," said Muzakkir Ali Nazir Ali, president of Mohaddis-e-Azam Mission.
"We just wish that the couples pray for our sons' well-being and success in life. My father and I had worked hard for entire life to bear our family's expenses. We even swept Jumma Masjid's floors. But by Allah's grace both my sons are doing well in life," added Mehmoodkhan, who has been giving donations to several institutions over last few years.