Washington DC., January 20, 2007 -- The members of Washington DC chapter of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) and other local Sindhis participated in a "Sindhi Sham (evening)" event. Sindhis, many of whom follow the principles of "Sindhiat", a form of Sufism that focuses on respect for all religions and non-violence were also celebrating important celebratory days of several religions Eid, Diyari, Christmas, and Hanukkah. The gathering took place in the Party Hall of the Town Square Building hall near the US Capitol Building.
The number of attendees was much larger than what was anticipated by the function organizers. Many were seen mingling and doing katchahry (chit-chat) in the hallway in front of the Part Hall. The main highlight of the evening was welcoming new Sindhis to the area and presenting a Sindhi community gift to newly-wed couple (Shahzad and Shua Shaikh). Shahzad is a son of prominent SANA member and local Sindhi family, Dr. Badar and Mrs. Khurshid Shaikh. The newcomers who were welcomed included Nasrin Tareen (former SANA EC member) and her spouse Iqbal Tareen (former President of SANA), Dr Amina Ashraf (a well-know medical lady doctor in Hyderabad), Mrs. Hasnain and Mrs. Shaikh (who have lived in the area for the last eight years but it was their first time to join a local community gathering), Kirshan Kumar (who has arrived to our area only eight days ago), and Fauzia Deeba (a great Balochi Pathan freiend of Sindhis and an official of World Sindhi Institute - WSI). It was also an occasion, when Dr. Aftab Kazi (a former Vice President of SANA and a long-time resident of Washington DC) joined us and shared glimpse from his academic work and experiences in the Central Asia, where he was a visiting Professor. The gathering congratulated Zahid Shaikh and Sarfraz Memon for their election as SANA's East Coast representative and Information Secretary respectively. The continued sorrows of Sindh, Pakistani politics, and situation in Iraq were some of the hot topics in informal discussions. The scholarship program being advocated/organized by Ali Nawaz Memon, among the worthwhile projects that the North American community should be engaging, received considerable interest.
Indeed the credit for this great and memorable event goes to mamma Aleem Brohi (our local chapter President) and Adi Khurshid Shaikh, who did a wonderful job of organizing. Their leadership has been instrumental in keeping the community together and we look forward to many more such events during 2007 and 2008.
By
Khalid Hashmani
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