Much-awaited Charminar darshan for tourists

Coming all the way from Afghanistan, Rateb Noori was eager to have a dekko of the historic Charminar and Mecca Masjid among other places.

Noori and his friends waited the entire week to pay a visit to old city. Their wait finally came to an end on Sunday, as they got to see the places they desired.

“We had to wait all week to see Charminar, Mecca Masjid and Chowmahalla palace in the old city. We were told at our hotel that it was not safe for us to go there,” said Rateb Noori, a tourist from Afghanistan.

Tourists like Noori and many others heaved a sigh of relief as Old City was back to normal after clashes that took place over the last few days.

Many foreign and domestic tourists had no choice but to wait till Sunday to visit Charminar and Mecca Masjid, as the area was cordoned off by the police till Saturday due to violent clashes on Friday.

Noori’s friend Ehsan Jafri, also from Afghanistan mentioned that they would have had to go back disappointed if the same had continued for the next few days.

“Thankfully our trip ends after two days, and we were really glad it is open today. The atmosphere is very calm here now,” Ehsan mentioned.

While Aswati Anand, a student from Delhi who is in the city with her college friends quipped, “Today was the last day of our college trip.

Luckily everything seems to be back to normal,” Her classmate Anugrah Bantawa added that their trip would have been incomplete if they hadn’t visited Charminar.

“Hyderabad is synonymous with Charminar. It will be like coming here and not eating biryani!” she exclaimed.

As old city bustled back to its old self, some of the tourists who arrived in the city on Sunday were unaware of the clashes that took place last week.

“After coming to old city I learned that it was all closed till yesterday,” said Nitin Patil, a software engineer from Mumbai who is in the city for training.

Anil Visal, an advocate from Pune, who landed in the city for a holiday with his family said “I have come here for the first time, and I am enjoying my time here. Although we learnt about the clashes. But, for now everything looks good here in the Old City.”