Who is Qamar Mohsin Shaikh? PM Modi's Pakistan-born Rakhi sister

For the past 30 years, Shaikh has been sending rakhis to PM Modi. (File photo/ANI)

As Rakshabandhan approaches, Pakistani-origin Qamar Mohsin Shaikh has prepared a handmade rakhi for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For the past 30 years, Shaikh has been sending rakhis to PM Modi, maintaining a bond she deeply cherishes.

Each year, she handcrafts several rakhis and carefully picks one for the Prime Minister. This year, she has specially designed a rakhi featuring the sacred ‘OM’ symbol as a mark of devotion and tradition.

#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Qamar Mohsin Shaikh with her husband Mohsin Shaikh show the rakhi she will tie to PM Narendra Modi on Raksha Bandhan, being celebrated on August 9 this year.

Qamar, who was born in Karachi, Pakistan and has been living in Ahmedabad since her… pic.twitter.com/DhvHZFkGQb

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— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2025

Who is Qamar Mohsin Shaikh?

Qamar was born in Karachi, Pakistan and has been living in India since she got married Mohsin Shaikh. She currently lives in Ahmedabad.

She has been tying rakhis to PM Modi since before he became the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001.

VIDEO | As Rakshabandhan approaches, Qamar Mohsin Sheikh, a Pakistani-origin woman living in Ahmedabad, is once again preparing to tie a handmade rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuing a unique tradition that has lasted around 30 years.

Every year, Sheikh crafts… pic.twitter.com/SMWi5iPyc6

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 6, 2025

Her tradition to tie a rakhi to PM Modi began when she first met him as a worker in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and was formalised in 1990 through an introduction by Dr Swaroop Singh, the then Governor of Gujarat.

Talking about her first meeting with the prime minister during his time as a volunteer with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shaikh said that he once asked her how she was and that brief exchange marked the beginning of a brother-sister bond that has lasted for over three decades. Since that day, she has tied a rakhi on his wrist every year and Modi has accepted her as his sister.

Recalling her first rakhi with PM Modi, she said, "When I tied a rakhi to him for the first time, I told him that I prayed he would become the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He said, laughing, 'I am happy with my work at the Sangh. Why do you curse me?"

"When I went to tie a rakhi to him after he became the CM, he said, 'Your wish came true' Then he asked me what I would wish now, so I said, 'I pray that you become the Prime Minister of the country' After that, when I tied a rakhi to him after he became the PM, I told him that I prayed he would rule the whole world. Now India has made a name for itself in the world, and it has happened due to his hard work. Now I pray that all his problems go away," she added.