Karnataka NRIs celebrate Rajyotsava in Jeddah

coastaldigest.com news network

December 8, 2017

Jeddah: Expatriates from high-tech Indian state of Karnataka in Saudi Arabia recently celebrated Karnataka Rajyotsava Day to commemorate the 62nd formation day of their state. The event was organized by Karnataka Non-Resident Indians (KNRI) Forum at Al Bakhira Banquet Hall, Harazath at Jeddah under the patronage of NRIs’ Forum Karnataka (Govt of Karnataka).

Consul for Community welfare, Culture, Press and Information Mr Moin Akhtar attended the event as Chief Guest, while President of the forum Mohammed Saifuddin presided over the event, large number of Kannadigas along with other dignitaries and community leaders attended the event. Dais was shared by President Mohammed Saifuddin, General Secretary Yashwant Amin, past President Mohammed Mansoor and Treasurer Aijaz Ahmed with chief guest Mr. Moin Akhtar.

Addressing to the audience Mr. Moin Akhtar said the efforts of the forum in helping the needy and underprivileged sections of society back home in Karnataka should be appreciated. Audience applauded him when he spoke Kannada language and light Urdu shayeri.

Video presentation was displayed to the audience on digital LED screen and was appreciated, in which history of Karnataka and achievements of KNRI Forum were highlighted. Dr K Muralidhara member secretary NRI Forum Karnataka message was displayed in which he wished the forum all the success for the program. Yashwant Amin General Secretary of the forum briefed about the presentation.

In this presentation KNRI Forum revealed the special features of each districts in Karnataka, aims and objectives of the forum, achievements and future goals & objectives for coming years. He requested audience to come forward and strengthen the forum to work more effectively to help needy people back home and & KSA. He requested to visit the website www.knriforumjeddah.com for more information.

Saoud Shaikh, Sabu Chandran and Dadapeer Hayath were appreciated and applauded for their hard work to prepare video presentation.

Forum President Mohammed Saifuddin Sami in his speech welcomed all the dignitaries, guests and attendees to the Rajyotsava Day. He informed audience that Dr. Arathi Krishna Dy Chairman of NRIs Forum Karnataka Bangalore who had agreed to attend our event as chief guest, could not make out due to official engagements in Bengaluru. But she had sent her Video message and best wishes to the KNRI Forum and all the Kannadigas and assured that her Department’s aims is to support and work for the well-being of the Kannadigas who are working across the world.

He thanked Chief Minister Siddharamaya and Dr. Arathi Krishna for their continuous support through NRI Forum Karnataka for not only sponsoring the event but also helping to resolve issues related to education of the KNRIs students.

He stated that NRIs forum Karnataka is associated with ministry of external affairs and a great initiative has been taken by government of Karnataka by issuing NRK cards for Kannadigas, NRK cards are helpful for obtaining facilities provided by government for KNRIs, it is very simple to enrol names by visiting website www.nriforumkarnataka.org

He thanked the consul general and the consulate staff for their tremendous support to the forum, he said my sincere thanks to executive committee and sponsors as organising this huge event was not possible without support and day night hard work of our executive committee and off course financial support of the sponsors.

A famous Bollywood Playback singer Mr. Mohammed Salamat enthralled the audience by performing all-time Hindi hits as well as new songs. He sang his title song of hum dil diya chuke sanam and his new release movie song – the forest – o mere mahiya, crowd applauded with huge claps and enjoyed new Bollywood song.

Mr salamat was thankful for KNRIs forum and its president for inviting him for this event, he thanked the people of Jeddah for their love and affection on him.

As a token of appreciation memento was presented to Mohammed Salamat as he entertained our audience second time in our event.

Prominent Jeddah singers, Mohammed Kaleem who was Cultural team in charge, Mirza Younus Baig, Hidyath, Ashmita, Sangeeta, Rajiv, Asha and joint cultural secretary Altaf Almelkar entertained the audience with old and new Hindi and Kannada songs.

Dances were presented by the children of Indian schools and were choreographed by Mali Roy and Radha Suresh, these dedicated choreographers were presented mementos as token of appreciation for their hard work.

Siham Mohd Saif, Mohammed Adnan Sayeed, Nitha Naveen D’souza, Priyala cardosa, Rachita ravindra shetty, Saba Noor Shaikh, Fathima hibha and Arshiya anjilath who had obtained 10 CGPA points in Class X examinations were felicitated on the occasion.

Dr. Ashfaq Maniyar while presenting mementos to the students said that brilliant and outstanding students are the leaders of tomorrow in different fields, recognizing and encouraging the meritorious students is our moral responsibility.

On behalf of KNRI Forum Dadapeer Hayath conducted the raffle draw and 12 gifts were given to lucky winners. Jet Airways sponsored two tickets as bumper prize, Jeddah Bangalore Jeddah air tickets were received by lucky winners Razi momin and Lancy vincent Dsouza.

Quiz program was conducted by Sabu chandran with interesting questions and was applauded by the audience, poetic and humorous anchoring was done by Dr Firoz Mulla and Syed Nasir Khursheed with flavours of Kannada Urdu and English.

Krish Jangal, Manzour Ahmed, Ilyas Momin, Mohammed Arifullah, Syed Kowsain Pasha, Rajesh Kumar, Mahboob Ali Khan, Saleem Khaleefa, Mukkaram Khan and Jalal Baig welcomed the guests.

Registration desk for attendees was handled by Peter Mascarenhas, Mohammed Saheb, Habeeb Rahaman, Faizee Razak Shaikh, Nazeer Ahmed, Asif Momin, Tanveer Ahmed and M R Shareef.

Vote of thanks was delivered by Event Manager Shaikh Saud, he expressed his deep sense of appreciation to Chief Guest Mr Moin Akhtar for sparing time with us and to audience who spared valuable time from their busy schedule to attend the event and remained focused till the end of the function.

On behalf of the Forum, he expressed sincere gratitude to all the sponsors of the event, starting with main sponsor NRIs Forum Karnataka Bangalore, he said we are sincerely thankful to our beloved chief Minister Shri Sidharamayyaji and Dr. Arathi Krishna for their continuous support and being golden sponsor of the event.

He appreciated and thanked other sponsors such as Intermodal Services, Zafiro fine dining, Jet Airways, Dastar Restaurant, Saggaf Hospital Ajmal real estate Bangalore, Brooq Trading, Splash, Golden Travels, Hassan Ghazawi hospital, Al Berry foods, Al Kabeer foods Ziyaraah dot com, Vishwanath Karkera, Al Asaasiya, Village Restaurant, Premier food, Shahi Rasoi Restaurant, Luminous contracting company, Global Alliances, Kwality Ice Cream, RF Developers, Al Rayan Hospital, AB Industries, London Dairy, IMAS, Hussain Manzur contracting Est., Mr. Manzur, Mr. Liyakat Belvai, Valiora Events, Bariz Global, C System, Hashim Mubarak, Horizon Properties, MS Beverages, NBCC(Popcorn), Master Trading Contracting Est, and Binzagar for their valuable support.

Snacks, juices, and delicious dinner were served to all attendees and complimentary gifts were distributed among all the audiences, function concluded with national anthem.

Comments

Good work team. Well done

Great initiative

Maa shaa Allah

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Contemporary Nationalism and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’

Ram Puniyani

February 29,2020

Like most of the political phenomenon, even the practice of Nationalism is not a static one. It changes with the changing political equations of the political forces and assumes the expressions which are very diverse. As such the phenomenon of Nationalism has a long journey and various state policies in particular have used it for purposes which relate more to the power of the state ‘vis a vis’ its people, power of the state ‘vis a vis’ the neighboring countries among others.

In India there has been a certain change in the practices of the state which have transformed the meaning of Nationalism during last few years. Particularly with BJP, the Hindu Nationalist outfit gaining simple majority, it has unfolded the policies where one can discern the drastic change in the meaning and application of Nationalism in regard to its citizens, particularly those belonging to minority community, with regard to those who are liberal, and with those who stand with the concept of Human rights.

Our former Prime Minister of Dr. Manmohan Singh hit the nail on the head when he said that “Nationalism and the "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" slogan are being misused to construct a "militant and purely emotional" idea of India that excludes millions of residents and citizens. Former Prime Minister recently stated this in an apparent attack on the BJP.” The occasion was the release of a book, ‘Who is Bharat Mata’, edited by Purushottam Agarwal and Radhakrishna. This is a compilation of significant extracts from writings of Nehru, and important assessments of and contributions of Nehru by prominent personalities.

Dr. Singh went on to add "With an inimitable style…Nehru laid the foundation of the universities, academies and cultural institutions of Modern India. But for Nehru's leadership, independent India would not have become what it is today," This statement of Dr. Singh has great importance in contemporary times, as Nehru is being denigrated by Hindu nationalists for all the problems which India is facing today and attempts are on to undermine his role and glorifying Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. This is also significant as it gives us the glimpses of what Nationalism meant for Nehru.

As Singh’s statement captures the present nationalism being practiced by BJP and company, the Hindu nationalists, immediately shot back saying that Dr. Singh is supporting the anti India activities at JNU and Jamia and his party is supporting the anti India nationalists. They asked whether Singh likes the nationalism of the likes of Shashi Tharoor or Manishankar Ayer who are provoking the Shaheen Bagh protest rather than making the protestors quiet. Whether he likes the anti national protests which go on at JNU or Jamia? As per them there is no Nationalism in Congress. One more example being cited is the private visit of Shatrughan Sinha who talked to Pakistani President during his visit there recently!

Most of the arguments being used to oppose Dr. Singh are very superficial. What is being referred to; is not opposition to Indian nationalism and its central values which were the core of anti colonial struggles. While ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ may not be acceptable to a section of population, even the book he was releasing has the title ‘Who is Bharat Mata’. What is being stated by Singh is the twist which slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ has been used by Hindu nationalists to frighten the religious minorities.

Indian nation came into being on the values, which later were the foundation of Indian Constitution. Indian Constitution carefully picked up the terminology which was away from the concepts of Hindu or Muslim nationalism. That’s how the country came to be called as ‘India that is Bharat’. The freedom of expression which was the hallmark of freedom movement and it was given a pride of place in our Constitution. It respected the diversity and formulated rules where the nation was not based on particular culture, as Hindu nationalists will like us to believe, but cultural diversity was centrally recognized in the Constitution. In addition promoting good relations with neighbors and other countries of the World was also part of our principles.

JNU, Jamia and AMU are being demonized as most institutions so far regard the freedom of expression as a core part of Indian democracy. These institutions have been thriving on discussions and debates which have base in liberalism. Deliberately some slogans have been constructed to defame these institutions. While Constitution mandates good relations with neighbors, creation of ‘Anti Pakistan hysteria’ is the prime motive of many a channels and sections of other media, which are servile to the ideology of ruling Government. They also violate most of the norms of ethical journalism, where the criticism of the ruling party is an important factor to keep the ruling dispensation in toes.

A stifling atmosphere has been created during last six years. In this the Prime Minster can take a detour, land in Pakistan to have a cup of tea with Pakistan PM, but a Congress leader talking to Pakistani President is a sign of being anti National. Students taking out a march while reading the preamble of Indian Constitution are labeled as anti-national; and are stopped while those openly wielding guns near Jamia or Shaheen Bagh roam freely.

Nationalism should promote amity and love of the people; it should pave the way for growth and development. Currently the nationalism which is dominant and stalking the streets has weakened the very fraternity, which is one of the pillars of our democracy. Nehru did explain that Bharat Mata is not just our mountains, rivers and land but primarily the people who inhabit the land. Which nationalism to follow was settled during the freedom movement when Muslim nationalism and Hindu nationalism were rejected by the majority of people of India in favor of the Nationalism of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Maulana Azad, where minorities are equal citizens, deserving affirmative action. In today’s scenario the Hindu nationalists cannot accept any criticism of their policies.

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