Rahul Gandhi congratulates newly-wed IAS toppers, says 'inspiration to all Indians'

When 2015 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) toppers, Tina Dabi and Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan, tied the knot in Jammu and Kashmir last week, little did they know that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would call them an "inspiration to all Indians."

Gandhi took to Twitter not only to congratulate the newly-wed couple but also to subtly politicize their marriage using words like "communal hatred and the growing intolerance in India."

On the day of their wedding, Twitter was abuzz with the IAS officers' marriage photos. Rahul Gandhi had also tweeted a picture from their wedding along with his congratulatory message.

Dabi had secured the first spot in the 2015 Union Public Service Exam, while Khan was second. The duo had met for the first time at a felicitation function organized by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in New Delhi.

The couple, who are allocated the Rajasthan cadre of the IAS, got married in a private ceremony at the Pahalgam Club Saturday, April 7. Despite only inviting a few friends and family members to the wedding, their marriage later became the talk of the town.

The couple's relationship was marred with a lot of complications and hurdles due to their different religious backgrounds. "There have been a lot of comments attributed to me falsely. Then there are comments that are anti-caste, targeting reservations, religion. It's as if I have committed a crime by falling in love with someone who is not the same religion or caste as me," Dabi was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

She added, "At times, things do become offensive. I then wonder if I should be active on social media and confront such stuff. But then I tell myself that I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

Ultimately, love triumphs hatred as the couple got married and became an "inspiration to all Indians." Here are some pictures from the wedding: