Eid celebrated with fervour at Ajmer shrine

Ajmer, Oct 14 (IANS) Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety at Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti’s shrine here amid tight security. The bomb explosion on Thursday failed to dampen the devotees’ spirit.

After offering prayers at the shrine, thousands of worshipers greeted one another with Eid Mubarak and distributed sweets.


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“It was as usual. There was no panic. Between 8,000-10,000 people would have attended today’s prayers and it was just like a normal Eid forus,” Ahmed Raza, a nazim of the dargah, told IANS.

The shrine attracts millions of believers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, from all over the country and abroad.

Two people were killed and 17 injured in the bomb blast during Ramadan prayers Thursday evening inside the shrine at Ajmer, about 140 km from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.

In the aftermath of the terror attack, extra security arrangements were made for the festival. The state police along with Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were keeping a tight vigil at the shrine.

Only three of the seven gates of the shrine complex were opened. “We have closed four gates due to security reasons,” a local administration official said.

Devotees queued up for the shrine on the special occasion.

“It is nice to see that the city has come out of it so fast,” said Salim Shah, who owns a flower shop near the shrine.

“Though the number of people coming from other parts of the country and overseas have dropped to a certain extent, there was the same festival feeling in the air,” added Nadeem Siddiqui, who runs a sweet shop near the shrine.

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