livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
SARANAC LAKE — The smiles never seemed to leave the faces of Abid Khan and Tanveer Hussain as they toured around the village Friday.
The two men from Kashmir, India, spent the day checking out the World Snowshoe Championships course at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center, meeting with local school kids and participating in the event’s opening ceremonies. As they walked through town, complete strangers came up to them to shake their hands and take selfies with them.
Three weeks ago, Khan and Hussain thought their chances of coming here for the Snowshoe Championships had been dashed. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi denied their visa applications, reportedly thinking they might not return home due to a lack of “strong ties” to their home country.
Flabbergasted, village Mayor Clyde Rabideau reached out for help from New York’s U.S. senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who contacted the embassy in New Delhi. Khan and Hussain’s plight drew media attention both here and in their home country.
Not long after that, the men were told they could resubmit their visa applications. They traveled again to New Delhi for what Khan said was a long interview with an embassy official.
“At the end of the interview he said, ‘Mubarak, mubarak,'” Khan said. “Mubarak is congratulations. ‘You have got the visa.’ It was unbelievable.”
Indian snowshoers get ‘rock star’ welcome | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise
The two men from Kashmir, India, spent the day checking out the World Snowshoe Championships course at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center, meeting with local school kids and participating in the event’s opening ceremonies. As they walked through town, complete strangers came up to them to shake their hands and take selfies with them.
Three weeks ago, Khan and Hussain thought their chances of coming here for the Snowshoe Championships had been dashed. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi denied their visa applications, reportedly thinking they might not return home due to a lack of “strong ties” to their home country.
Flabbergasted, village Mayor Clyde Rabideau reached out for help from New York’s U.S. senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who contacted the embassy in New Delhi. Khan and Hussain’s plight drew media attention both here and in their home country.
Not long after that, the men were told they could resubmit their visa applications. They traveled again to New Delhi for what Khan said was a long interview with an embassy official.
“At the end of the interview he said, ‘Mubarak, mubarak,'” Khan said. “Mubarak is congratulations. ‘You have got the visa.’ It was unbelievable.”
Indian snowshoers get ‘rock star’ welcome | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise
