Sania Mirza to get gold crown as wedding gift

Karachi: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will be handed a gold crown as a special gift from the people of Sialkot, his husband Shoaib Malik`s home town, by a Pakistan federal minister on his wedding reception on April 15 in Hyderabad. Minister for Welfare and Population, Firdous Ashiq Awan, who would represent Pakistan government, today said she would be taking a special gold crown gifted by the people of Sialkot and a special painting by noted artist Sadeqain as wedding gifts for Sania. Sania will also be handed gifts from Pakistan President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the wedding reception following her marriage to former captain Shoaib Malik yesterday. "I will also be taking gifts from President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for Sania. I don`t know what gifts had been given by the President and Prime Minister. Only Sania will know when she opens the gifts herself at her wedding reception," Awan said. Awan said when Shoaib and Sania returned to Pakistan, the government would hold special receptions for them in Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot and Karachi. "The people of Pakistan are overjoyed that this marriage has finally happened and they want to celebrate it with the couple," she said. The minister thanked his counterpart in the Indian government for arranging his visit to Hyderabad for the wedding reception in a short time. "The Indian minister for population has sent me a special invitation which has made it possible for me to travel to India at such a short notice," she said. Shoaib and Sania marriage has caught the imagination of every Pakistani with the media giving it extensive coverage since the news first broke out that the two sporting stars of Pakistan and India were going to get married. A dress designer in Karachi, who is also a leading trader, has prepared a special burqa made with gold-plated threads to present it to Sania as a gift when she comes to Pakistan. Thousands of T-shirts bearing the pictures of Shoaib and Sania with the Pakistan and Indian flags on them have also flooded markets in Karachi and other major cities. Siddiq Memon, Chairman of Karachi Traders Action Committee, said T-shirts had been specially made from China and Thailand in bulk to meet the demands of the occasion. Following Shoaib and Sania`s marriage yesterday, there has been celebrations, dances and sweets distribution in many cities particularly in Sialkot, the hometown of the cricketer. PTI