Haryana’s ‘Trump village’ has rakhis for US President, Modi

GURUGRAM: ‘

Trump village

’

Marora

is looking to seal its relationship with the US President by tying him to a kinship through a gift of 1,001 rakhis.

The village in Mewat, Haryana’s most backward district that made international headlines this June when it was named after Donald Trump to highlight a programme to build toilets there, is also sending the same number of rakhis to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The rakhis have been made by Muslim schoolgirls with the help of women who live in the village and have pictures of Modi and Trump on them. Shabrul, a 14-year-old student who participated in the making of the rakhis, said, “We started making these rakhis on August 1, and finished them in only five days. We enjoyed it.” Three of the girls will visit the PMO on Monday to personally deliver the rakhis to Modi.

Marora has a population of just 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, and is located 60km from Gurgaon. In June, NGO

Sulabh International

adopted Marora renamed it ‘Trump village’ after it started a programme to build toilets there.

But controversy followed as the local administration called the name-changing illegal. So, ‘Trump village’ is not Marora’s official name yet but local residents are already seeing the benefits of the association. “There has been development in this region after it got associated with his name,” said Sakunat, another student. “We have accepted him as our brother.”

Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak said they came up with the idea of making rakhis to promote brotherhood and unity. “The rakhis were sent to Trump by Air India cargo on Saturday, so they reach him in time for Rakhshabandhan (August 7). In Hindu mythology, 1,001 is an auspicious number, and we asked the girls to make 2,002 rakhis for both of them.”