Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated a new campus of an educational institute by the Dawoodi Bohra community during his visit to Mumbai, news agency ANI reported.


The new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, or the Saifee Academy, the primary educational college of the Dawoodi Bohra community, is in Marol, a suburb of Mumbai.






Speaking at the ceremony, PM Modi stated: "I am here neither as a PM nor a CM. The fortunate that I have is something that perhaps very few people received. I have been connected to this family for 4 generations. All 4 generations have visited my home."






"On the parameters of change with time and development, Dawoodi Bohra community has always proven itself. Today, the expansion of important educational institutions like Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah is a living example of the same," he further said. 


The Saifee Academy is aiming to preserve the community's learning traditions and literacy culture.


It is the Dawoodi Bohra community's main educational institute. Jamea, which was founded in Surat, Gujarat, in 1810, seeks to prepare young Dawoodi Bohra men and women for positions of leadership within society, as global citizens dedicated to serving others and committed to acting in accordance with the values, principles, and ideals instilled in them during their education.


Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq dedicated the Karachi campus in 1983. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta dedicated Jamea's third campus in Nairobi in 2017.


Jamea has welcomed a number of high-profile guests and dignitaries over the course of its existence, including various heads of state, according to the institute. During his first visit to Gujarat as Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Surat campus in 1960.


PM Modi has a good connection with this group and has visited with its religious leaders on multiple occasions, both domestically and overseas.


The Dawoodi Bohra community is a Shia Muslim sect known for its commercial ability.


During his visit to Maharashtra, the Prime Minister also flagged off two Vande Bharat trains.


The number of Vande Bharat Express trains departing from Mumbai has grown to three, bringing the total number of these semi-high-speed trains in the country to ten.


PM Modi's visit to Maharashtra on Friday would be his second in less than a month.


(With Inputs From ANI)