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A Dawood-Miandad show sans Dawood
DUBAI — It was a wedding and reception worth remembering for long.
The red carpet was rolled out and the Baniyas Ballroom at Grand Hyatt Hotel, venue of the grand reception for the Mahrukh-Junaid wedding, was decked with fresh flowers while candles flickered all around.
The hotel itself wore a festive look ahead of the wedding late evening, while undercover agents from several intelligence agencies lurked around, alongside the hordes of private security guards at the venue.
Javed Miandad, who had enthralled crowds here with his magical willow during his cricketing heydays, stepped out of his car along with his wife on the dot of 9.30pm. Miandad was dressed in a formal black suit, while his wife was elegantly draped in a silver-coloured saree.
Guests had started trickling in much before Miandad's arrival. Several guests, mostly single males dressed in shalwar kameez, the Pakistani national dress, arrived at the venue in batches from 9pm.
The first batch of women, in simple but elegant clothes, arrived at the venue at around 9.15pm. Among the early guests were groups of young men dressed in casuals – shirts and trousers – who entered the Baniyas Ballroom in small groups of five or six carrying bouquets.
No high profile guests or familiar faces, barring former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal, were seen among the guests, though it was apparent from the looks of the guests that the elite from Pakistan and UAE were in attendance.
A Sharjah businessman, Chowdary Zubair Basheer, said he had been invited by Miandad. 'I know about Dawood Ibrahim but I have never met him,' he said, adding that he was keen on blessing the couple.
Valet service was provided to guests who arrived in cars, while the mediapersons, who had lined up from as early as 6pm (some were there since morning), were asked to stay away from the guests and the hosts. Photographers were strictly warned against clicking pictures of guests as the wait continued for the arrival of the bride and the groom.
Sources were non-committal until 9pm whether the bride and groom would attend the function, but they confirmed that dinner arrangements were made for over 500 guests at the Baniyas Ballroom which was cordoned off by heavy but not very visible security as the evening progressed.
A Dubai Police sniffer dog stood by just before guests started to arrive at 9pm.
The tables for eight in the ballroom had a large candle stand with four candles each, setting the stage for a grand candle-night dinner. And the base of the candle stands were covered with pink roses and white tulips. Each table also had eight packets of chhwaras (dry dates), traditionally served at weddings to every guest, besides a pink rose.
The centre-stage for the bride and groom was draped in white, with the approach to the state decorated with pink roses and orchids. A green sofa for two was placed on the state for the newly-weds to meet the guests.
Popular songs from Hindi films played in the background, while the arrival of guests was beamed live on three large screens in the hall. By 10pm, some 200 guests had arrived, but the Barat had not arrived till 10.30pm.
The spread for the guests included a 12 dishes for the main course, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, besides five kinds of salad, and papad. For dessert, there was a wide choice including jalebis.
Sources disclosed that the services of a private security agency in Dubai – Vanguard Security Service – were hired by Miandad for the security of his guests. Female security guards were also seen positioning themselves in the ballroom.
A large number of hotel employees waited anxiously to receive the guests. Hotel employees were also stationed at the main entrance of the Convention Centre leading up the path to Baniyas Ballroom.
Hotel sources, however, would not reveal the guests list or whether guests for the event were booked in the hotel.
Some overseas guests were spotted arriving at the hotel at 6pm and they were seen being escorted by some relatives of the hosts to their rooms. These guests who arrived with baggage, probably landed in Dubai in the evening to attend the wedding.
Indian media could not get wedding visa
DUBAI — Indian media which wanted to cover the high profile but closely monitored wedding of Dawood Ibrahim's daughter Mahrukh to Javed Miandad's son Junaid in Dubai yesterday was disappointed since their journalists were not issued visas.
Abhijit D., Bureau Chief of Star News, Mumbai, told Khaleej Times from India that applications for the visa were made around eight days ago, but they could not secure the travel permit.
'We were told that it takes two working days for the visas to be issued, but our passports are still with the UAE consulate,' he said. 'Due to this delay, we could not cover a very important event and had to make alternative arrangements for the coverage.'
The wedding attracted widespread media interest in India with many television channels and publications exploring every angle in the past few days. Three other journalists from Mumbai could not attend the event for the same reason.
'The four of us, Jeetendra Dixit, Vinod Khapri, Sheela Rawat and myself, applied for the visa together. All our passports are still with the consulate and we are wondering why we weren't issued visas,' Abhijit said.
As expected, elaborate security arrangements had been made both inside and outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel with a posse of uniformed and plainclothes guards keeping an eye on the proceedings in the hotel premises. There was also a lot of speculation about the guests list with many people denying they had received invitation.
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