US consulate celebrates Sindh Culture Day

For the fourth year in a row, the US Consulate General in Karachi marked Sindh Culture Day on Saturday with a folk music concert and reception. 

Consul General Grace Shelton welcomed Sindhi media, cultural contacts and dignitaries to the event.

Sindhi folk musicians Arbab Khan Khoso from Badin played the Al-ghozo, Sattar Jogi from Tharparkar played the Murlee and acclaimed singer Ahmad Mughul enthralled the participants with their soothing music, said a statement released by the American consulate.

Consul General Grace Shelton, speaking on the occasion of her first Sindh Culture Day, said: “Sindh is a land of mystics, Sufis, poets and saints; the people of this land have created a peace-loving, inclusive and tolerant society. On this great cultural day, the United States wishes prosperity and peace to the people of Sindh.”

 

Lahore celebrations

The Sindh government’s information adviser said Sindh Culture Day would be celebrated in Lahore today with enthusiasm under the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. 

“We will share love with the people of Punjab and the message of love and peace is travelling from Sindh to Panjab,” said Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Moula Bux Chandio in a statement. 

He said the culture day would not only be observed in Sindh but also in all other provinces of Pakistan in a traditional style in order to bolster the culture of the province. 

“Sindh is the land of peace and Sufis who always preached peace, tolerance and unity,” he said, adding that the government was committed to boosting culture of Sindh by all means. 

Chandio said people would wear the Sindhi topi and ajrak to show unity and solidarity and to promote peace, brotherhood, religious harmony and tolerance.

The day was first observed in 2009 in reaction to criticism of then president Asif Ali Zardari for wearing a Sindhi cap during an official visit to Afghanistan.

Chandio said that “the day also shows how peaceful the people of Sindh are and that there is no discrimination among them”.

”People of other ethnicities also took part in the celebrations, expressing their love for their province and to pay tribute to Sindh. The celebration of this day is necessary to keep our culture alive at a time when other cultures and foreign influences are fast making inroads into Sindhi society.”