Jeddah Indian Community, an amalgamation of many social, sports, cultural & welfare outfits in the city, organized a felicitation reception to honor two visiting Indian social reformers from Indo-Arab Friendship Foundation — Jaber Patel, president, and Ateeq Siddiqui, general secretary. Patel, thanked the community for organizing this special event and said he has come here to explore business avenues between Kingdom and India, especially in the newly formed southern state of Telangana. "In my personal capacity I will definitely highlight some of core issues that include the Waqf property of the late Nizam of Hyderabad, Patel said, adding, "No-doubt myself and my father are associated with the oldest nationalist political party of India, but we never divide the society in lines of political outfits. To me development and progress of the nation counts most rather than polarizing the society and letting it fall into the hands of vested interest." Advising Muslims to shun differences, Patel said, "We need to focus on increasing our representation irrespective of any political outfits, at the national, regional and local levels and to withstand the forces that make India weak." Siddiqui highlighted the achievements of the "Society" since its inception. He said: "We were successful in many ventures and our prime objective is to bring the two traditional cultures of India and the Arab world into one, for this we have striven to bring many heads of the Afro-Arab countries and shared common interest." Aijaz Ahmed Khan, the head of many social, cultural and sport organizations, described the visiting dignitaries as the most noncontroversial personalities whose purpose is to bring all political parties on one platform and to draw attention towards the grievances of the society in order to redress it in the best manner. Advocating the policy of mutual interest and peaceful coexistence and at the same time respecting every faith and culture, Aijaz said the community should definitely support such elements. Saber Patel, father of the president of Society, also shared the dais with a few Urdu couplets of Allama Iqbal's poetry. Recalling his past glorious period with many high-ranking officials, he said many national leaders regardless of their affiliations have visited him at his hometown of Zaheerabad district. "I have given them the best advice and they have reciprocated my sentiments and as a result when Congress party was on the decline in the late seventies I supported many leaders including Ms. Indira Gandhi to fight her elections from the Medak district and she surprisingly triumphed with a big majority." Others who shared the dais were Mohammed Shameem Kausar, who praised the efforts of both the young stalwarts and said the community is proud of their achievements. While echoing his sentiments Mohammed Sayeeduddin, head of engineering forum, said: "I consider you both as a full-fledged team of 11 players in the field of social reforms." Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig, Gazanfar Ali Zaki and a host of others also spoke on the occasion, at the end there was question and answer session. A standing ovation was given to veteran Saber Patel who is a recipient of a Golden Mango by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu. Earlier the program commenced with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an by Qari Mohammed Noor, followed by Naat or eulogy by Ameenuddin Ansari. Two plaques were presented, one by Aijaz Ahmed Khan to Jaber Patel and the other by Shameem Kausar to Ateeq Siddiqui. Flower bouquets and shawls were also presented to the dignitaries on the dais by Mahmood Ali, Rafat Shah, Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig and the host of the program Mohammed Jabbar. The program was well moderated by the President of Telangana NRI's Forum Mohammed Jabbar and the vote of thanks was proposed by Syed Rafat Shah. — SG
